


Seriously Grim Adventures of the Black Marauder

by PurpleMango



Series: Fate's Favorites [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Crack, Dragons, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Master of Death (Harry Potter), Past Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Seer Sirius Black, Sirius Black Dies, Sirius Black Lives, Sirius Black lives again, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-08-26 07:12:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 33,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16677010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleMango/pseuds/PurpleMango
Summary: Life's a bitch and then you die.But what if Life was still a bitch after you died?Sirius Black's not exactly happy with where he ended up, but he's gonna make it work god dammit.He has to.{Note: The title is from KIT10_not_K9 (thanks hon)}





	1. So What You're Saying Is... You Won't Just Let Me Die?

**Author's Note:**

> Look at me, putting up a story that i'm not going to add to until I finish 'Itsy Bitsy'...  
> I'm horrible. I know.

Sirius watched Harry scream as he felt a cold chill over his body, ice creeping into his veins as he sunk back into the veil. 

The light was fading… and then he was falling backwards through a doorway. 

Looking up, he saw three women looking at him.  “What the hell-?”

The woman with long blonde hair and kind eyes that seemed to radiate magic, tisked at him, making him feel like a small child. “Now now, Sirius Black, please take your seat so that I might explain. You are  _ quite  _ late.”

The man glanced at the woman the empty chair was next to. With long red hair and green eyes, she almost reminded him of Lily, and his heart clenched painfully.

“Okay. Now we must begin or this unique opportunity will go to waste.” The other woman with long flowing midnight hair and skin as pale as moonlight grinned. “Yes, both of you are dead. But... Life and I have a proposition for you.”

The first woman clapped her hands, a big smile on her face. “Hi! I’m Life! Or Lady Magic, or Mother Nature, God, whoever you feel you want to call me! And I’m here to help both of you.”

Sirius stuttered out, “Lady- Lady Magic?” before he could think about it.

The dark-haired woman rolled her eyes. “And I’m Death. I’m sure my other titles aren’t needed. But _ back to the point _ , there is an issue that needs to be fixed, maniacs that are running around messing with the timelines-”

“Voldemort?” Sirius guessed. 

Damn that stupid snake-face, always messing shit up.

The woman next to him looked at him curiously, like she’d never heard the name before. She almost looked like a… muggle with her strange clothes.

Death sighed. “Yes, well Voldemort for your timeline and Thanos from hers. Two irritating men that think they are above the Powers That Be.”

Sirius didn’t think he’d be signing up for dimensional travel when he died.  Hell, he just wanted to see James and Lily already, watch Harry kick some Death Eater ass!

“And what are we to do?” The redhead was completely calm, like she’d done this a thousand times and the memory of Lily hit in the gut again.

The two deities looked at each other. 

“We need two… champions to set this straight. You will go into the other’s timeline and help destroy these two aberrations. Sirius, you will go into a world of superhuman beings, aliens, and beasts of strange powers. Natasha, you are to be introduced to magic. Each of you will have the memories of your past life, each of you then can ask three things of us. Three gifts, if you will... Now Natasha, you will still be in the timeline with the Avengers, Sirius you with the Order of the Phoenix, but each of your bodies from your original timeline will not know what you know now.” 

“Why us?” Sirius frowned. He was more than 99% sure that even Harry would be better suited for this. Not that he wanted his godson to die just that- well, Harry was a natural hero.

Lady Magic smiled gently. “You both have been through trying experiences. Askaban and the Red Room are both places of horror.”

He flinched, almost missing the woman next to him do the same thing, and they briefly met eyes . 

“However, you both escaped, fought your way out tooth and nail. You both have an exceptional moral compass and can always be counted on to protect innocent lives. We need you.”

There was a long pause.

“I ask as my first gift, to understand this new world, to be able to blend in seamlessly.” The woman spoke with unparalleled confidence, and Sirius would’ve asked her on a date that second if they weren't in this situation. “I want to be able to use magic if i’m going to be able to defeat some homicidal wizard, and… I would like Clint Barton to be by my side.”

Sirius frowned internally at the name. A boyfriend probably. 

“How about…” Death grinned, eyes glinting. “We give you a group of highly trained magical individuals to teach you what you need to know, you can have the power of Merlin… But Clint cannot come. He has to stay in his time. I can however, give you the Deathly Hallows.”

Sirius felt his eyes widen and put a hand on the woman’s shoulder. She looked at him. “You should take that deal.” The Deathly Hallows he knew were a children's story… but offered that opportunity? He'd take it in a second.

the woman stared at him for a moment. “Fine. I accept... But you have to promise to watch out for Clint Barton.”

He tried to file that name away in his brain for later. “If you watch out for my godson, Harry Potter.” He extended a hand to her. 

She took it, lips quirking into a smile almost than he could process. “Deal.”

Lady Magic clapped. “Beautiful! Well then, Natasha, please say hello to the Unspeakables for me!”

The woman disappeared in a shimmer of light. 

Sirius grimaced. “You’ll make sure she doesn’t die, right? Harry needs someone in his corner.”

“I will.” Lady Magic smiled. “Now... Your three requests?”

Sirius looked at the two women, the two most powerful beings he’d ever heard of... sitting in front of him. “Wandless magic. Some type of information or guide so I know what's going on…” He then grinned. “And a stronger animagus form.”

Death chuckled. “I will give you magic that neither you nor the world you are traveling to has seen, you will have the ability of a seer, I will give you the same markings as Natasha... and as for your animagus…" Death tilted her head, a mischievous look in her eyes. "We will see what can be done.”

Life smiled. "Good luck Sirius Black. You'll need it." She waved her hand  and Sirius felt like his body had been submerged in ice once more.


	2. Falling In Fountains Is a Mandatory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been so quiet lately!  
> Hope your December is going well!

No one knew what was messing with the Tesseract, or why the energy surges were off the charts, but Clint Barton looked at the glowing blue tesseract from beside Director Fury and shrugged. “The cube. It’s a doorway to the other end of space, right?” He looked to his boss with a tilt of his head. “Doors open from both sides.”

Nick Fury watched in both horror and fascination as the cube started to pulse and with a wave of blue energy, a man appeared. 

With long black hair and a cutting smile, the man stalked forward, golden sick with a blue orb clenched tightly in his hands.

“Sir! Please put down the scepter!” Agents raised their guns.

Loki attacked.

The SHEILD base fell to ruin.

But states away, Fate was playing with the strings of her golden loom, and a magic surge not unlike the tesseract had given off spit a man out of thin air.

 

Sirius felt his body appear in the air and suddenly he was falling… into a large fountain, water soaking him to the bone.

A large group of pigeons flew away frantically, and he saw a few muggles pull out their cellphones. 

Groaning, he pulled himself up, wading to the edge of the fountain, robes drenched with water and hanging off him uncomfortably. With the casual indifference for muggles that eleven years of torture had instilled in him, he peeled away his outer robes so that the sun hit his wet undershirt and he didn’t feel as weighted down.

“Bloody freaking  _ women _ .” Muttering to himself, he waved his hand and the robes were dry. Pulling them back on, he ignored that his pants were still slightly damp and started walking.  _ Where _ , he had no idea, but his body just felt like it needed to move.

And then he was stumbling into the street, his feet making him move, and people started yelling at him. 

Sirius turned, right in time to get hit by a bus. 

(He hated fate _so_ much right now.)

 

He felt the impact. 

Felt every bone in his body snap, his brain rattle in his skull. 

Felt hands pull at him and heard voices shouting. 

Then like his brain was on fire, information poured in through every nerve, every synapses, transcending what limited capacity he’d had all at once and he twisted in agony.

A voice spoke, reverberating through his broken body, telling him that only the only way for him to improve was to start over.

The faint thought of ‘ _ She did this on purpose’ _ flitted through his head before the pain was back again.

His fingers sought purchase on anything, but the metal was putty in his hands, the fabric ripping like it was nothing. 

He heard the humans around him shouting, scared, and he agreed. He’d never been more afraid for the people around him in his life, not even when he was half-insane after Azkaban. 

A voice in the back of his head whispered about second chances, about the future, about anything and everything that might happen, and Sirius Black passed out.

 

Waking up in a room full of muggle equipment was new. 

Sirius was used to healing wards, the ambient glow of enchanted lights on stone walls, but everything here was harsh light and noisy beeping. 

He slipped off the bed, ambled to a mirror and then laughed in surprise. “Wow.”

His face was younger. No mustache, no graying hair. His face was as pale and smooth as the day he’d been born, his hair like a messy curtain of darkness that fell past his shoulders. There were no familiar bags under his eyes. 

He looked down, lips tightening when he found the same old tattoos littering a considerably less muscled chest. He was lanky now, but not underfed like he remembered being at this young age. Turning over his wrist, he frowned down at the always raw scar on the inside of his wrist where magic had carved his prison number into soft skin.

It seemed that all his marks and scars had been transferred to his younger body, along with the magic they held. No aches came from the simple scars, except for the all-encompassing weight that made it hard to breathe, originating from his scarred prison number.

The voice, Lady Magic he supposed, whispered to him, breaking him out of his thoughts and he blinked back up at the mirror, seeing his eyes flash gold. She talked about a group of people, teammates that didn’t know how to work together, telling him they needed him. That he had a duty to help them.

Looking down at his wizarding robes, Sirius sighed, imagining black jeans and a comfy t-shirt. Like he had willed it out of thin air, the clothes appeared on him along with a suited leather jacket and he smiled. “Now that's better.”

Walking through the halls, he let the voice guide him to the entrance of the building, waving to the muggles at the desk as he passed.

He’d have to stop calling them muggles as he supposed this world didn’t have wizards… Peasants? 

No that sounded too weird, too gaudy. 

Sirius mentally shrugged, figuring something would come to him as he went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sirius is back! And with internal monologues to boot!


	3. Picking Up After Super-powered Idiots

Sirius was walking around the streets of New York, watching as the strings of fate as they intertwined with the people milling around him.

Then a dull poking-feeling nudged his brain.

He frowned, turning in a full circle, but not seeing anything of importance.

The feeling got worse, until a tugging feeling came over him, and he found himself standing on an unfamiliar metal platform. 

Sirius scowled. " _Really? You're just gonna apparate me places_?" He looked around. He was  standing on the platform of a large ship ( _ a ship floating in the air… wow, look at that _ ). 

His eye caught on a guy who was hanging off a wire that was dangling over a drop that would kill him for certain. 

Sirius raised an eyebrow, smirking. “Whatcha doin’ down there?”

Before the man could answer, he ducked right as there was a gunshot from behind him, spinning around to see a man in black body armor. Throwing up a shield, he waved his hand and the man shooting at him crumpled, a large sword protruding out of him just as Sirius had imagined. 

“Neat.” Sirius mused.

“Who are you!” The man from behind him yelled and Sirius reminded himself that he couldn’t get distracted with his _bad-ass_ magic skills. 

He had to pull that red leaver. 

Now if a person had logically asked him:  _ why? why do you need to pull that lever? _   Sirius wouldn’t have known and would probably have put a sword through them too in frustration of honestly not knowing. 

But no one was here to ask him (or be killed), so he just pulled the lever.

Then he offered the man that seemed to be wearing the American flag a hand, pulling him up onto the deck. 

The man painted, sweating from the exertion of hanging onto the wire.

Sirius tilted his head at the man. “Bit much, don’t you think? Wearing that? Isn’t it a little… colorful?” When the man just stared at him, Sirius rolled his eyes. “Bloody Americans. Okay, well,  _ you’re welcome _ .”

Then the tugging feeling prompted him to go somewhere else and he started off into the weird sky-ship thing. 

And no, he was  _ not  _ going to call the floating ship a ‘helicarrier’, that name was  _ way  _ more ridiculous than ‘floating ship’.

 

Sirius ran past a room, then at sharp poke to the brain, he skidded to a stop. He backed up and looked in the room warily. 

There, with considerably shorter hair and a skintight black outfit, was the woman from the white room. He walked in, ignoring the gun she pointed at him. 

“Oooh… Mind magic.” He grinned at the blonde man in front of him. “Guessing you’re the Clint Barton that my brain’s yelling about?”

“I- who are you?” The man frowned, looking at the woman like he was lost, and maybe he’d forgotten something important.

“I’m seriously serious about being Sirius.” He tapped the man’s forehead, pulling out the corrupted magic and throwing it to the ground, stomping on it for good measure. “And you’re welcome.”

Almost at the door, he paused, spinning around again. 

“Oh right, the whole emotional trauma business. Let’s see... it’s really not your fault, you were brainwashed, yada yada all that touchy feely crap- Your nightmares will be shit for a few days but they should clear up around a week’s time.” Sirius grinned. “If not, consult a mind healer... Got to go! Places to be, people to confuse! Pack lots of arrows bird-man!”

As he ran out, he heard Clint asking Natasha if she’d slipped him hallucinogens and laughed.

 

Sirius stopped at where a hole in the floor was and frowned.

There was supposed to be a glass container here. 

Hmm…

Turning, he looked over to where a man was slumped against the wall with a wound though his chest, cursing. “Dammit I'm late!... Late late late.” He muttered, moving to the dead man and pressing his hand against the wound. “Now I can’t fix you all the way or it’ll slow me down and I’ll be even more late… but with a little work I can probably give you a-”

The man gasped, eyes shooting open.

“-Boost!” Sirius grinned widely letting out a small cheer. “That’s bloody brilliant! I’m the coolest.” He pulled the man into his arms, loping down the hallway.

A black man with a legit _eye-patch_ saw him and with a single movement all the guns in the large room were trained on him, eyes fixing on the fact the man in his arms was wounded. The man (that was an friggin' awesome eye-patch) scowled. “Who are you? Answer now or you get blown to bits.”

“Wai-” The man in his arms croaked. “He... saved…”

“Thought you might want this guy alive. He’s kinda important.” Winking down at the man in the suit, Sirius laid him down on a glass table carefully with a shit-eating grin. “Death’s feeling kind today, Mr. Coulson. I expect great things.”

And as the tugging feeling got almost painful, Sirius disappeared.

 

Being encased in a glass container while it was hurtling through the air was not how he liked to spend his time. 

Being encased in a glass container while it was hurtling through the air... with an angry Norse god? Even worse, 10 out of 10 would _not_ try at home. 

“Who are you mortal!” The god boomed, as they were both thrown side to side in the glass container. “Where did you come from!?”

“The future.” Grunting as he was thrown yet again against the wall, he clenched his hand, the man with the shaggy blonde hair flying to him. As soon as they met, Sirius was apperarating away, taking the man with him.

 

They were falling, but not from very high, and into someone’s pool. 

People shreaked, running.

Spitting up water, Sirius dragged the man to the edge, frowning as he pulled himself out. “Allways water. Fountains, pools... What’s  _ with  _ that?” The voice in the back of his brain giggled mockingly and Sirius sighed, waving his hand so that both him and the blonde were dry. 

“Who are you, man of magic? And why are your eyes gold?”

“I’m a seer. And I  _ see  _ that you’re needed in New York, so you better hop to it blondie.”

With a smile, he was gone again, Life and Death stringing him along to the next lost soul that needed guidance.

 

Guidance was definitely in need. 

And clothes. Damn.

Some butt-naked guy opened his eyes, only to startle when he saw Sirius staring down at him.

“Sorry mate. Sorry just habit.” Sirius smirked. “I tend to forget my manners when I see a naked guy laying in the middle of a crater he made… Need a hand?” 

The guy accepted Sirius’ hand up, seeming to fidget a little as his bare  _ everything  _ was on display. “Thanks…”

“Clothes first. And then maybe a ride.” Sirius pulled off the leather jacket and shook it. It changed into a shirt and a pair of sweatpants. He caught the pants before they could fall, and offered the clothes to the man. “There you go. I’ll get the bike.”

The man changed, eyeing him as he did with inquisitive and curious eyes. “Who  _ are  _ you?”

Sirius transfigured a few pieces of rubble into a bike not unlike the one that Hagrid had ‘borrowed’ from him. “I’m Sirius.”

“Like... the star?”

With a wide smile, Sirius nodded, getting on the bike. “Yeah. Exactly. Now hope on Doctor. We have a long way to travel before you get to punch some aliens.”

The man studied him, frowning, but climbed in the sidecar. “How do you know that I’m not just going to get off when you fill up for gas? What’s stopping me from just walking away?”

Sirius grinned, revving the engine. “One, this bike doesn’t need gas.” With a jolt the bike was speeding forward, slowly the wheels starting to lift off the ground until they were flying through the air. “Two… You’re going to decide to help eventually anyway. It’s part of you, Doctor, the ‘helping people thing’ as my family used to call it.” 

Sirius smiled at a memory of Remus teasing him about his need to fix things, calling him the ‘dad’ of the marauders. (James, of course, was the ‘mom’ in the group even if he’d never admit it.)

“This is…” Bruce Banner (the name the brain-voice supplied) gasped in awe. “The logical inconsistency of this is giving me a migraine, while the exhilaration is… Is this what being high feels like?”

Sirius snorted. “Sure,  _ nerd _ . Just stay calm and try not to wreck my bike. Making another would be easy, sure, but i’m extremely lazy.”

The man next to him smiled, more real than anything Sirius had seen from him since they’d met. “I can try to keep the beast in check until we land.”

“I mean, if he likes to fly then go ahead and let him out… I’m just not really great with the idea of being more late than we already are.”

“Late?”

Sirius felt his lips twitch. “To the alien invasion of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: Alien invasions!


	4. Note to Self: Don't Eat the Alien Worms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been distant lately, so I apologize for the inconstant updates.  
> Hope you enjoy!

Pulling up in the motorbike, Sirius got off, waiting to let Banner climb out before the bike fell to pieces. He frowned at the rubble lightly. “Shame. I really liked her.”

“You can make another.” Bruce gave him a half-smile. He’d seemed to warm up to Sirius after he realized that Sirius wasn’t afraid of the man’s big green alter-ego. “Stop whining.”

“But dad…” Sirius frowned, crossing his arms like a petulant teenager. Which, he supposed would be somewhat true to how he looked right now.

“Kid, get out of here! Don’t you see the aliens?” A metal suit asked in a human voice, seemingly confused.

“Stark he’s saved most of our lives. Let him stay. He’s got some tricks up his sleeve.” Natasha gave him a look of assessment, before tilting her head. “But if you get in the way…”

Sirius held up his hands. “Just tell me what I can do.” The voice in his head started talking and he tilted his head. “Nevermind. I have different orders.”

“Orders? What orders? From who?” The American-Flag-Man asked him, disapproval in his voice.

He ignored that, frowning at the voice’s words. “Animagus? You _sure_?” 

The voice then proceeded to call him a pansy. 

Sirius rolled his eyes. “Alright, fine. Let’s see what you got for me.”

Shifting into his Animagus form had never been harder. 

Not that the transformation was painful or anything, the actual transformation was effortless, the only thing was... he wasn’t a dog anymore. And he was stuck. The formerly large street was now tiny, his body wedged in between the two buildings.

A dragon. 

Sirius resisted the urge to laugh, knowing that his flame would do more harm than good here in such a small area.  And the humans- 

_Shit_. 

Backing up and ignoring the screeching of metal as the metal frames of the buildings to his sides were ripped apart by his scales, he looked down to see the humans in the funny costumes gaping at him. They were tiny. 

_Bite sized really._

He must've been larger than any dragon he'd ever seen and he grinned toothily at the thought of Charlie Weasley seeing him now. 

_ Eat your heart out Charlie Weasley, I’m a bloody dragon.  _

With a push, he launched himself into the sky, wings almost six times his midsection expanding to catch him. He looked below, seeing he blocked the sun for almost four blocks.

It was a weird feeling, hovering over the tiny skyscrapers and he let out a loud laugh, feeling warmth curling out of his snout in the form of fire. With a loud roar of exaltation, he dove towards the closest flying alien worm-thing, as he was now a little bigger than it. 

His sharp talons grabbed the beast and piercing the softer scales, before he curled in his wings, using the worm to cushion his fall into the watery bay. 

With a large splash they landed. 

The worm with massive teeth thrashed around and Sirius, not used to his new body, was hit with its tail a few times. Avoiding its sharp teeth was something that he tried to do, but when its mouth bit at his back right leg and nothing happened, he grinned viciously. 

Magic scales were _awesome_.

With a sharp chomp, the beast went limp in his teeth. Then Sirius proceeded to spit up the black blood, pausing to wash his mouth out with the seawater. Disgusting.

_ Note to self: don't eat the alien worms. _

Sirius quickly lifted off again, water running off his midnight scales, and he was extremely glad he didn't have feathers, what with his penchant for getting wet. 

Hearing screams, he turned on his side, doing a sharp turn, and his eyes narrowed in on a group of humans being chased through a large park by a pack of aliens. Dropping down, Sirius stood tall in between the aliens and the humans, and with a stomp of a clawed hand, a few aliens were mush. 

(It was like that one time he and Remus had gone wine pressing with James and Lily for their honeymoon.)

_Smush_ _smush_ _smush_ went the aliens. 

_Stomp stomp stomp_ went the dragon _._

Sirius laughed, throwing back his head as he pranced around smushing the tiny crunchy creatures.

He looked back, only to see the small humans were staring at him in horror and he stopped mid-smush. 

Oops. He’d gotten carried away again. 

Slowly, Sirius used his tail to nudge the humans to the far side of the park, before bobbing his head in a makeshift nod. 

He’d done good.

A tiny glinting red and gold thing flew next to his head and he resisted the urge to bat it out of the sky, one of his eyes following it with increased accuracy instead. A voice broadcasted through the air. “As much as i’m dying to know how you’re a dragon, there’s more flying alien things... Can you help us out?”

His voice was low and the ground seemed to shake when he spoke.  _ “I will crush them, but only for a price.” _

“What price big guy? Because we need something done now.”

_ “Space worms are not edible... I desire  _ **_pizza_ ** _.” _ His teeth gleamed in the light.

The tiny metal man nodded. “Got it. A teenage dragon. Look, you can have all the pizza you want, just go get those worms.”

With a roar, he shot into the air, spotting three worms terrorizing the city. Grabbing two of the worms, he ripped open their throats, throwing them in the bay along with the other dead worm. He heard a roar, looking to where a green creature was being shot at by a group of aliens. He tore through the group easily, before flying up high to scan out areas that needed him.

A whisper in the back of his brain and his eyes found the metal man holding a rocket, flying into the portal.

A second later the last worm fell, lifeless to the ground. 

The blue portal started to close and then a glint of metal caught his eye. With a earth-shaking roar, he swiped his hand, carefully catching the metal suit in cupped claws. With careful descent, he let the man slide out of his scaled hand onto the ground, before he was standing on two legs again.

Quickly he ran to the metal suit, and with a wave of a hand the headpiece opened itself. “Stark…” His voice was rough (probably from breathing literal fire). “Don’t make me do this...”

With no answer, he shook his head, pushing his hand through the armor and onto the man’s chest, his tattoo burning painfully as he absorbed all the man’s wounds. The man jolted, breathing returning quickly, his eyes wide, and Sirius collapsed next to the man. 

“Give it a seco-” The burning got too much and Sirius passed out. 

 

Waking up, his brain felt backwards, like the day on the lake with Harry when he’d almost been kissed by the dementors. 

When he realized what’d happened, he sat up quickly, looking around only to see he was in a large spacious room. The others were clipping a man with defined cheekbones and greasy black hair that almost reminded him of Snape into electric glowy handcuffs. 

The green and gold caught his eye and Sirius scoffed lightly. 

Slytherin colors all the way, this guy was the bad guy, Loki.

“So… You’re not gonna give him that drink? He asked nicely.” Sirius ambled over.

Green eyes widened slightly. “Your eyes…”

“Oh. You can see that can’t you?” Sirius smiled at the man the was slightly taller than him. “Gift from my mother. They’re selective on who they appear to though.”

“And can you...”

“See?” Sirius nodded. “ _ Everything _ . And it’s not going to be nice for you back home.”

Loki flinched.

Feeling slightly sorry, he sat down next to the man. “But things will work out for you. They always seem to do.” Sirius smiled. “Just don’t antagonize Odin. Yeah, he may be kind of a hard-ass sometimes, but I think if you explain that Thanos made you do it he would see sense.”

“Don’t say-”

“His name?” Sirius grinned. “Darling, unless he has a taboo on it i’m going to say it as much as I want. Though I agree with Lady Magic. Ugly purple raisin-face has a better ring to it.”

Thor narrowed his eyes, voice booming. “Even Heimdall cannot see the Mad Titan!” 

Sirius gave the thunder god an irritated glance. “Well fun fact: I’m not Heimdall. I’m not all-seeing like he is. He has sight that I don't have and I have sight he doesn't have. I see the future, the whole plan laid out, whereas he sees everything as it is _now_.”

“And whose _plan_ is that?” Steve Rogers looked sceptical. “ _ God _ ?”

“Sometimes... I guess you could call her that. But no, the plan is more her older sister’s design. Death.” Sirius pulled up his sleeve, showing off the Deathly Hallows tattoo. “You may not believe me, but she’s here and not happy with the way the future will go. I’m here to stop that future from happening.”

“And that tattoo?”

This tattoo is what kept Agent Coulson from bleeding out. Brought Tony over here back from the brink of death.” Sirius stretched. “Now… I think i’m owed pizza? Those worms tasted like rotten eggs.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this whole story is pretty much going to be like this.  
> Yes, I do need more sleep when writing things, or they come out like this.


	5. Deck the Elves With Boughs of Hate, Vahalla La La La, La La La Laaaaaaaa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays all you lovelies!  
> Hope you like the chapter!

Sirius promised he’d stay with Tony Stark and Dr. Banner for a month, both men delighting in making him show off every piece of magic he could think of. 

He found that depending on the need when he shifted into his Animagus, his size changed, and spent quite a lot of time making Tony Stark take him on walks through dog parks as a German-Shepard sized dragon. 

It was amusing to see how people tried to pass him off as not real.  (Well, until he got scolded for setting a lady’s hair on fire after she kicked him, trying to prove he wasn't real (though it was more of a half-hearted scolding mixed in with a lot of grumbling about animal abuse))

However after a couple months of semi-domestic bliss, a familiar pulling sensation led him to pack a backpack, promising both scientists that he’d see them again.

 

Travelling between worlds was not something Sirius would do often, not by the way he almost threw up after appearing before a golden dias. 

A man with gold eyes looked down on him, his eyes widening just a bit in surprise. “Brother. You travel without the bifrost?”

“Seeing as I just did, I think so.” Sirius held out a hand for the man. “Our mother tells me you are one of her favorites Heimdall. You are spoken of highly.”

“Our mother speaks through you?”

Sirius nodded. “She does.”

Heimdall sunk to his knee. “Then you are as much my king as the man on Asgard’s throne.”

Sirius laughed, slapping the man’s shoulder. “Stand brother. Come, show me the way through this place.” He shape-changed, letting his teeth show in a toothy grin as he bounded around the man like an excitable dog.

Heimdall’s lips quirked up slightly. “I see the people will be entertained.”

Walking through down the rainbow bridge and onto the winding paths of Asgard was magical. Sirius would have been very impressed if he hadn't been practically raised at Hogwarts and been imprisoned in Azkaban for such a long time. Now all things grand and magical seem to have lost that shine...

He still ran from person to person, tail flicking back and forth like it wasn’t able to slice skin easily. In turn the people stopped to stare, the warriors watching with the silent promise of violence if he was dangerous, but Sirius ignored them.

“My king! I announce my brother, a seer!” 

Sirius stood up, human again, and saluted to Thor with a grin. “My name is Sirius Orion Black, Son of Lady Magic and speaker for Lady Death.” He bowed. “I come not with a message, but a promise... The dark elves live and Malakith is coming for the Aether... Your loved ones will die.”

He found a crowd of warriors instantly surrounding him, pointed spears and swords inches away from piercing his skin.

Odin’s voice was booming, louder than even Thor. “Who do are _you_ , to _dare_ threaten Asgard?”

“Father-” Thor tried to interject.

“ _ Quiet _ !” Odin snapped at his son, making Sirius flinch slightly, remembering how his mother hit him when he would talk back. “A  _ midgardian _ , come to our realm to threaten us with dead stories? Take him to the dungeons!”

“Lovely and everything, but I don't think so.” With a wave, Sirius was standing in a cell.

Loki tried to reach out for Frigga, but her mirage was already fading, regret clear on the man’s face..

“You really should be grateful she loves you.” Sirius watched as Loki jumped. “My mother used to beat me for even talking to her… though I think she’d have liked you. You certainly have the right traits for a Black… Lying, deception, using others for your own gain...”

“What do you want, seer?” Loki's eyes narrowed in on him with a sneer that reminded him almost of Snape.

Sirius pushed off of the wall. “I need an ally and Odin will not hear me before it’s too late… I wish to stop the Queen from dying, but only you can help me with this. Do you care for that woman you so cruelly dismissed?”

“I do...” Loki’s voice turned hard, determined. “What can I do?”

A loud explosion shook the dungeons. 

Sirius closed his eyes for a second, head tilted, before he opened them and looked to the god. “It starts. You will be free soon, but you have to direct the leader of the group to the left stairs. Do that and I can _promise_ you will save your mother.”

“That stairwell leads right to her!”

He grinned. “It does, but it also leads to _me_.”

Sirius appeared, startling both Jane Foster and Lady Frigga. 

Holding up his hands, he felt his eyes glow gold. “Please. Both of you, hide and make a mirage of Jane. I will deal with Malekith.  _Go_!” 

Nodding the two women hid, a mirage of Jane appearing behind him just as the doors opened. 

Sirius stood tall, between the mirage and the elf. “Stand back, dark elf.”

“I will have what is mine.”  The mirage of Jane shuffled away and Malekith started forward only for Sirius to slash him with a sword he’d pulled from an Asgardian soldier on the way here. 

_Sword fighting had to be similar to dueling with wands… Right?_

He was wrong, but luckily his sight helped him know when to block and move. 

The two of them dueled back and forth, until a large hand of another warrior grabbed the back of his neck and he stilled, looking at the mirage of Jane with a slight smile. “You will never have the Aether!” His voice sounded defiant and he saw Malekith's jaw clench in annoyance.

Malekith ignored him, turning on Jane. “You have taken something child. Give it back.” He reached for her only for his hand to pass through the mirage. He turned on Sirius in a rage. “ **Where is the Aether**!”

Sirius smiled simply. “I’ll never tell you.” 

He felt a blade press to his back, the large creature to his back holding him easily.

“I believe you.” 

The blade slid home.

“No!” Thor struck Malekith with his lightning, but before any more fighting could be done, two dark elves were gone.

“Frigga!” Odin ran in. 

“I’m here! Is he-” 

Sirius smiled, closing his eyes as the tattoo on his arm burned up his blood from the inside out.

Standing next to Heimdall, Sirius watched the procession of boats, laden with dead warriors. His whole body felt heavy, a bone-deep tiredness that he couldn't shake. “Do you see them, even after death?”

“Only until their spirits chose to pass on...” Heimdall's gold eyes fixed on him. “You carry many spirits with you. Some magic users like you… and others creatures, wraiths cloaked in fear and sadness.”

He held out his wrist, the prison number always a fresh scar on his skin. “They hang around this, don’t they?”

“They do.” The man's nod was short, but the gold eyes stayed on his wrist long after he dropped it to his side.

Sirius looked back to the expanse of stars. “Not all of them are dead, my spirits... Instead, they are my family, preserved in memory. A place I cannot return to.”

Heimdall put a strong hand on his shoulder. “That does not mean that will not come when you call brother… Now go see to whatever business keeps you here. I see the anxious look in your eyes.”

With a nod of thanks, Sirius made his way to where Thor and Jane were talking with Frigga and Odin. The king stiffened at his presence, but his wife just smiled. “Traveler. You saved me and I owe you a debt. What is it you ask of me?”

“Your son.” The woman glanced to Thor and he smiled slightly. “Your youngest, Loki. I ask that he be released under my guide, under oath to serve the very realm he tried to destroy.”

Odin started to step forward, but Frigga sent the man a _look_ before nodding to Sirius. “As you saved me from death I, Queen of Asgard, allow this.” The woman then paused, eyes turning cold as Loki’s had been earlier. “If you harm or betray the trust of my son… You will regret not being able to die.”

“Funny. You  _ did  _ raise him.” Sirius just turned to smile at Jane. “And you, Jane Foster… May I save your life?”

Jane raised a delicate eyebrow.

“The parasite in your body is not only that. It’ll do harm in the wrong hands… but in the right hands it can do good. I can take it out of you, but only if you allow it.” Sirius shrugged, winking. “Something like consent for the mind.”

Jane chuckled, before realizing where she was and letting her smile drop. “Please do, Mr. Black.”

“If you would say that you relinquishing ties to the Aether...” 

“I relinquish ties to the Aether.” 

The group watched as the inky red material extracted itself, pulsing from her skin. 

Jane collapsed, Thor catching her, but Sirius stood still. 

The Aether swirled, like it was looking at the group, trying to sort out who was best to consume.  Who best to make into it’s puppet, but before it could move he spoke up. “I name you. Not Aether, as the dark elves have made you go by, but as an Infinity Stone. I name you the Reality Stone and I intend to work with you, not under you or above you, to further Lady Death and Lady Life’s plans. Then, and only then, will I lay you to rest. Do you accept?” 

The red liquid writhed and then without warning, like it had been injected into his veins, it sunk into his arm. He pulled up his sleeve, seeing a ring had been made around gold tree tattoo, glimmering blood red in the light. 

“An infinity stone…” Odin grabbed his arm. “And you have Yggdrasill on your arm! **Who are you**?”

With a soft sigh, a tall woman draped herself over Sirius’ back, head resting on his shoulder. He shivered at the touch of her fine golden hair. She smiled slyly. “You ask stupid questions, subject of mine.”

Odin kneeled, face white and hand over his heart. “Yggdrasill. My goddess…”

The crowd around them murmured all kneeling as well.

Sirius glared petulantly at the woman. “Hello mother. What is it you need?”

Lady Magic straightened, frowning. “I thought you might like a little help. Binding Loki to Earth, fixing Asgard, maybe even restoring health to Miss Foster, but alas… I can see when i’m not-”

“Wait!” Sirius’ resolve crumbled. “Jane Foster- I don’t believe I alone can restore the damage to her… And binding Loki. Binding rituals have never been a strong point for me.”

“And this is why you’re my favorite child right now. Natasha is much too… stubborn. Though her work with the Unspeakables  _ is  _ impressive.” A blinding smile. “Give your mother a hug.” With a sigh, Sirius let her pull him into a hug. The contact was as embarrassing as it was refreshing, as though it was a contact high for his magic. 

Jane gasped, eyes flying open as she awoke, and she gaped at the woman. “You- _God_?”

Lady Magic chuckled. “I guess you could say so.” She linked arms with Sirius, nodding once to the royal Asgardians. “Now, let’s go bind that wayward prince, shall we son?”

“Whatever you say mother.”

As they walked into the palace he heard Jane mutter, “So Sirius is like… _Magic Jesus_?”, causing the woman next to him to burst into a peal of bell-like laughter.

Loki looked up when they approached. “Is my mother alive, tell me now! Is my-” He stopped, eyes going wide. “Y-...Yggdrasill?”

“Hello Loki, darling.”

Sirius stepped forward, hands held out reassuringly. “Loki your mother is alive and well. As favor for saving her life, she is allowing me to take you under my guide if you vow to protect midgaurd.”

“I would  _ never! _ ” The man's face started to pull into a sneer.

“Loki…” Lady Magic smiled faintly. “You remember the one rule to using my gifts, do you not? To cherish all life as indispensable?... Your magic failed you before Thanos. It failed you before the Avengers. And if you keep going the way you are… it will eventually leave you for dead.”

Loki’s eyes widened in fear.

“I don’t want to see that. Take this vow. It will help you regain your magic, your power once more.”

“And... what do I say?”

With a wave of Lady Magic's hand, the barrier to Loki's cell was gone. Sirius held out his hand, Loki eyeing him for a second before clasping hands with him. “Do you vow, on your magic, to protect Earth from any danger that might see fit to destroy it? Do you vow to be loyal to my son, Sirius until his path has been completed?”

Loki pursed his lips before nodding. “I vow it.”

Lady Magic turned to Sirius. “My son, do you vow to protect and guide Loki? To show him a better path on which he will thrive? To never unduly punish him or use his loyalty for your own gain?”

“I vow it.”

“As it is vowed, so mote it be.” With a bright light Lady Magic was gone, and both men had new marks on their right hands. Loki a constellation of stars, Sirius a winding snake eating its own tail.

“So. As a newly freed man… what do you want to do first?”

Loki walked easily by Sirius’ side. “I wish to see my mother before we help Thor with any schemes he has concocted to stop Malekith.”

“That’s not hard.” Sirius showed Loki his tattoo, explaining how the Aether was actually an infinity stone, just like the Tesseract. How Malekith might be tough to beat, but without the Aether he was just another normal foe.

Loki smirked. “I think I have made the right choice on picking sides then.”

Sirius laughed, the group of Asgardians looking up to see them coming over.

Jane frowned. “You’re-!”

“I’m Loki. You may have heard of me-”

She slapped him, causing Sirius to burst out laughing as she scowled. “That was for New York.” 

“I like her.” The god grinned at Thor, who frowned, stepping forward to protect Jane’s honor.

Sirius stepped in between the brothers. “Whoa there Thor. Jane might be able to hit him out of retribution, but I have to nix any of your punches. They’ll damage him more than she ever could.” Sirius grinned at Jane. “Not an insult in any way, Miss Foster. I think you’re an  amazing  scientist.”

She smiled at him kindly. “Thank you.”

“Now I think I would like to dance, drink, maybe eat a little before we head back to Earth.” He bowed his head to Odin and Frigga. “Would you give me that?”

“Do as you see fit, son of Yggdrasill.” Odin grumbled.

Sirius grinned at Loki. “You might regret bonding with me yet,  _ O Prideful One _ .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3 <3 <3  
> Have a great Holidays!  
> <3 <3 <3


	6. Dragon Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dragon!Sirius is officially my fave.  
> Hope everyone's Holidays are going well!

Jane and Thor went into an apartment building, Loki glaring at Sirius in irritation. “You’re pathetic.”

“That stuff you lot have iss  _ way  _ stronger than fire whiskey.” Sirius threw up in the trash can again, before half-grinning at Loki. “Plus… I have to make you suffer a little or this whole thing’s not a punishmen-” He felt bile rise, leaning back over the trash can hastily.

A few minutes later, a group came out with Jane and Thor, all pausing at the sight they made. Sirius was bent over a trashcan, Loki holding back his hair with one hand, the other smoothing down his spine. 

Almost immediately Loki’s stepped back, crossing his arms. “Where are we headed?”

An older man eyed Loki uneasily, but spoke up. “Greenwich.”

“Let’s go!” Sirius straightened, smiling. “I’ll take Loki and meet you there.”

 

Apparently Loki found side-apparition ‘distasteful’ (as he put it), but ended up gaping as Sirius turned into his large dragon. “Is this… are you always this big?”

Giving him a toothy grin, his voice shook the earth they stood on. _ “I am not small when I fight because I fight to win.” _ Flapping his wings, he took off, perching on the top of a building to the side of the main quad. Roaring as loud as he could, he saw people running out, staring and then proceeding to pull out their phones.  _ “Run now, children of Earth. You are in danger here.” _

No one moved.

Loki cleared his throat, black tailored clothes replaced with his green and gold battle armor and people started to run. Sirius shook his head as Loki smirked. “Maybe you’re not as scary as you think you are!”

A ship materialized out of what seemed like thin air, the sharp blade of the ship cutting through the ground heading straight for the man. 

With a flick of his tail, Sirius grabbed the tiny man out of harm’s way. Loki shouted in surprise and he raised the man to one on his large gold eyes, grinning.  _ “You were saying?” _

“Put me down!”

Setting the man down and uncurling his tail, Sirius watched as Thor flew down to meet the large beast next to Malekith, Loki cutting his way through some of the dark elves. His eyes spotted the other humans running around putting up metal devices and he shook his head.

They were going to make this harder than it had to be. 

Very well.

Part of the dark elves were transported away, but then the two of the humans went with them. Upon hearing a scream, Sirius slid down from the back of the building, chomping up three dark elves. He felt them crunch in his teeth, their blood tangy on his tongue. 

Yes. This would do. 

“Dr- Dragon!”

He peered down at the two humans.  _ “Run before I find you eatable.” _   (Not that he would actually eat them, but his patience was running thin.)

Turning, he set his sights on another group of elves but before he could move towards them, there was a thud and he saw cars raining from the sky from a convergence portal. With a huff, he intercepted them before they could do any more damage, piling them neatly off to the side. 

He turned back of his targets.

Two jets flew past and he growled, catching them both before they could do anymore damage.  _ “Leave this place! You're not safe!” _ Then like paper airplanes, he sent them in the opposite direction.

A large group of dark elves were converging on the two doctors and he dropped from the sky with a crash in front of the humans, clawing at the elves. When they kept coming, trying annoyingly to pierce his scales, he huffed. Taking a deep breath, he burnt the whole group of elves to a crisp.

Screams turned his head and he saw a strange beast a third his size eat a dark elf and then run off. So he gave chase. Like a hawk with a rabbit, he scratched it up, bit off it’s head and sent it’s body crashing down onto a group of dark elves.

A tiny human crushed another group with a car and Sirius roared in approval. 

The human ignored him, turning to the female, Darcy. “Are you alright?”

“You saved my life.”

“Yeah… Yes I did.”

Rolling his eyes at the humans who were now making out _in the_ _middle of a battle_ , they were suddenly replaced with a group of dark elves, to whom Sirius got to practice his _smashing_ techniques on.

The planets were aligning, but without the Aether, there was going to be no victory for Malekith. The elf himself didn’t seem to care though, more and more troops pouring out of the large ship, content to destroy as much of Earth as possible. 

Thor, finally having smashed the other lead elf’s head in, showed up next to Sirius, helping make a dent in the marching forces.

Catching sight of Loki fighting Malekith, the god obviously tired and worn-out, Sirius growled.  _ “Get Loki and find cover, god of lightning.” _

Thor heeded the warning, flying past Malekith and snatching Loki up by his cape. 

When they were a spot in the distance, Malekith turned to him. “YOU! YOU HAVE MY AETHER!”

_ “It is not the Aether anymore, nor it is it yours.”  _ The tattoo where the reality stone sat under his scales begged for atonement. For the dark elves to be punished for corrupting it for so long.  Drawing on that power, Sirius roared, a shock wave of red light reverberating around him. 

Wherever it touched, the dark elves turned into trees or bushes, some to deer or fox. The alien ship vibrated violently, before it seemed to liquefy into water, washing down on the scorched earth.

Looking around, all the dead elves had become dust, drifting in the wind.

Sirius sat down on his haunches heavily, eyes barely open as Loki, Thor, Jane and the others approached him slowly.  _ “I will rest now.”  _ He laid down, put his head on his hands and curled his tail around himself.  _ “Sleep… for a few days.” _

 

When Sirius woke, it was to noise. Opening one of his eyes, he saw hundreds, maybe millions of humans swarming him. All taking pictures, some even climbing on him.

“Look!” One man pointed at him and suddenly all of them were trying to see what he saw. 

Sirius opened his other eye, causing the humans to gasp, some drawing away while others drew closer.  _ “Where is my companion?”  _ His voice rumbled out, lack of sleep making the ground vibrate more.  _ “Has he left me while I sleep?” _

“Fear not you ugly beast. I was getting coffee.” Loki’s voice echoed out and people startled, making a path for the man dressed in a human suit.

_ “You dress like a witch, god of mischief.”  _ Sirius grinned at the man, eyeing the all-black ensemble.  _ “Do you plan to attend many funerals today?” _

Loki glared at him, voice dry. “Very funny.”

Slowly, as to make sure no stray humans were on him, he stood from the ground. A scream caught his attention and his clawed hand shot out to catch a little girl, setting her down carefully.  _ “Next time make some noise so the sleeping beast knows not to move child.” _

The girl nodded hastily, scrambling off.

Sirius stretched lazily, yawning, careful not to crush any tiny people.

“Your magic didn’t change the dead Jotunheim beast and it’s mostly fresh...” Loki wrinkled his nose. “Over there.” 

Moving slowly so people could get out of the way for his large clawed hands, Sirius made his way over to the dead creature.  _ “Seeing as it is being wasted, sitting here…”  _ He picked it up with a clawed hand, looking it over.  _ “I will dispose of it.” _ Throwing it up into the air, he caught it on the way back down, chewing slowly.  _ “Crunchy.” _

“You’re like a big dog with sharp teeth.”

Sirius turned to eye the man, baring his teeth in a smile.  _ “I wonder if  _ **_you_ ** _ would be crunchy Loki?” _

“Try it. I dare you.” Loki stared him down.

With a huff that left smoke curling out of his nostrils, Sirius lowered his head, his eyes that was half the size of Loki staring straight at him.  _ “Nevermind. Maybe later i'll be in the mood for something stringy and bitter.”  _ He felt his body slowly shrink, sensing that there was no danger, no battle. He stopped at about the size of a car, tail flicking back and forth lightly.  _ “Since you’re stuck with me, you get to wait until my body decides it's ready to change back.” _

“And what are we supposed to do until then? We’re being swarmed by humans!”

Sirius grinned.  _ “Drink your coffee Loki. They won’t bother you with me here. And if they do… well i’m still hungry.” _

He then wandered around the crowd, bumping people softly with his head and enjoying the pets he got. A little girl even climbed up on his back as he sat perfectly still, scratching behind one of the scales on his head. The crowd laughed as his tail thumped against the ground.

It was all well and good until he felt something pull him to where a man had ripped Loki’s coffee and food from his hands, throwing it aside.  The man was yelling about some family he had in New York. 

Sirius carefully tilted so the children playing on him slid off and stood up slowly. He prowled forward, the crowd parting for him.

“-you’re a monster! Abomination!” The man shouted and Loki flinched back, arms raised in a sign of peace. Sirius realized that he couldn’t hurt the man, not even if he wanted to protect himself, out of consideration to the bond. “You ruin everything and here you are! Sitting and having coffee!” The man punched Loki across the face and the god fell back, eyes wide.

The man reeled back to swing again, but froze when Sirius loomed over him, breath hot against the man’s skin.  _ “You choose to attack someone who is unarmed? And not only that, but under  _ **_my_ ** _ protection? Interesting...” _

The man spun around, eyes going wide. “I- uh- I didn’t- He destroyed New York! You were there! You fought against him!”

Sirius felt the anger under his skin prickle and he grew steadily, approaching the size of a building again.  _ “You do not know me. You do not know why I do the things I do. You hit my companion and for that I will-” _

“Hey. Idiot.”

Sirius turned his head to look at Loki, who was pulling himself up, dusting off his clothes like he hadn’t been cowering in the dirt a second ago.  _ “Yes darling? Is there a  _ **_need_ ** _ to interrupt my long winded monologue on why humans shouldn’t touch what’s not theirs?” _ His voice was sarcastic.

“No, by all means, continue. I just thought you’d like to know that I’m leaving.” Loki turned, starting to walk away.

With a long-suffering sigh, Sirius felt his body shrink, until he was standing on two feet, hair an absolute mess. He loped after the man, catching up to him with a smile. “Off to get more coffee then? It  _ does _ sound quite heavenly.” He twined his arm with Loki’s and they strolled through the crowd. “You know that I'll probably be all over the internet, right? Maybe even famous.”

“Because you’re a dragon... or because you’re a drama queen? Or is it both?”

Sirius laughed. “Probably both.”

 

As Loki was against all types of travel via Sirius, they were currently walking through an airport. Which was fairly annoying considering that he’d become an internet sensation almost overnight ( _ suck on that Loki _ ), and everyone seemed to know his face. 

The media had no name to go on other than Loki’s calling him ‘Idiot’, so they were currently calling him ‘The Dragon’. 

Original.

He and Loki walked calmly, the strongest shield that Sirius could make move with them currently doing just that: shielding them. 

The airport security eyed Loki, but after Sirius pulled out two knives that he’d made out of thin air they pretty much ignored the god. Loki just stood to the side, watching with amused eyes as Sirius was patted down, even made to take off some of his clothes.

“That was unnecessary.” 

Sirius shrugged, slowly buttoning up his shirt as they walked. “It was funny.”

“Unnecessary....” Loki’s lips quirked up. “But sort of amusing.” They both ignored the looks they got, both hate and awe. The barrier would keep out anyone with bad intent. 

Then a girl passed through the barrier like it was nothing, eyes as large as saucers as she paused in front of Sirius. “Can- Can I have your signature?” 

“Sure.” With a shrug, he pulled a pen out of thin air, scrawling ‘Orion’ on the notebook she handed him. 

She looked down at it with wide eyes. “Is- Is your name Orion?”

“Yeah. Orion Black.” He left off his first name, smiling down at the girl.

The girl’s eyes were wide and he suddenly realized the reason _why_ she was looking at him like that. Then a swarm of teenage girls were suddenly surrounding him, all asking for autographs or trying to touch him. He grabbed Loki, apperating a couple of feet and then changing the barrier to block out  _ everyone _ .

“You seem to be...  _ popular _ .”

Sirius ran a hand through his hair, eyeing the women clawing at the barrier. “I’m a 36 year old man in a my twenty year-old body. I don't feel any different and then when I realize… I feel like i’m lying to everyone.”

“You’re still a child to me.”

“Thanks.” Sirius’ voice was dry. “Prat.”

They got on the plane, Loki making a deck of cards out of his magic. They played until Sirius ended up falling asleep on the man’s shoulder, waking up only when they were landing.

“I hope you don’t fall asleep mid flight as a dragon. That would be embarrassing.”

“Shut up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I couldn't think of a witty chapter title (thanks brain), so any ideas are appreciated :)


	7. Cleanup On Aisle "Winter Soldier"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a new year peoples! Happy new year and all that shit, hope you like the chapter!

Loki frowned at the displays. “You asked the  _ worst  _ person for advice.”

Sirius shushed him, trying to listen to the teenager that was supposed to be telling him about mobile phones. Instead she had started on a rant about colors for his superhero costume, trying to figure out weather black or green would go better with his stormy blue eyes.

“Excuse me ma’am.” Sirius turned to an older woman in the store instead. “May I ask what type of phone you use?”

The woman smiled brightly. “I have a simple flip phone. It’s never failed me, unlike my son’s phone who keeps breaking. I swear that he-”

“You’re  _ horribly  _ polite. Come on.” Loki grabbed a phone, his magic making it look like an unassuming fruit in his hand, and then dragged him out of the store. He shoved the phone at Sirius with a sneer. “Oblivious fool, you’re like catnip to humans. You  _ radiate  _ power.”

Sirius frowned at that, but walked with Loki down the street, fiddling with the phone. 

“You going to use it or just mess with it?”

He rolled his eyes, stashing the phone in his pocket. “We have other business.” At the god’s curious look, Sirius nodded to the street. “A fight with a dead man. Stay here.”

Loki opened his mouth to protest.

Sirius’ eyes flashed. “Loki if you engage this man your life will be ended swiftly. Stay here. I will not have you risk your life just because you're to proud.”

“...Fine.” The man grumbled after a pause, leaning against the stone wall.

With one last nod, Sirius started walking towards the street. A man in all black with a muzzle and goggles walked calmly towards an approaching car and he watched as the car was flipped via explosion, the man stepping out of the way before turning to where the battered car lay.

Sirius itched to do something, but his sight held him off.  Fury had to escape first. 

The man ripped the car door off, pausing when the inside was empty.

That was the signal and Sirius let himself transform, a clawed hand easily pinning down the man. A metal hand gripped at the talon across his chest but Sirius ignored it.  _ “Hear my voice Soldier. Hear my voice and see reason. Hear my voice and feel your mind repair itself. Hear my voice and become human again.” _

The man paused as Sirius pushed his energy into the man, healing and restoring some of the broken pathways in his mind.

Then the metal hand was digging in between the layers of armor on Sirius’ talon, ripping a shiny black scale the side of his head off and tossing it aside, before drawing a knife and stabbing the tough skin underneath with a knife.

Sirius's roar was deafening as he pulled back, clawing at the ground in agony, eyes narrowed on the man.  _ “I could kill you for that soldier. Run before I do.” _

The man heeded his advice, sprinting away.

Sirius sat back on his haunches, looking at his oozing wound. 

Loki ran over, the scale in his grip. “How bad it is?”

_ “It will heal.”  _ Sirius huffed, smoke emanating from his snout.  _ “But I will have to stay like this, in fear of making it worse… Collect the blood, as it may be useful later.” _

He lowered his talon, watching as Loki collected the thick purple liquid, before stashing it somewhere with his magic. Sirius flicked his forked tongue over the would, seeing it cover itself with a fine layer of skin. Loki held up the scale. “And this?”

_ “You should sell it. Might fetch a good price on the black market.” _

Loki grumbled about idiot dragons, shrinking the scale to the size of his hand and storing that away too. “Where to,  _ O Wise One _ ?”

Sirius put his head down and after a second, Loki climbed up, sitting in a divot between two scales.  _ “I say a walk in the park while we wait for the soldier to return.” _

 

It was almost comical. 

Sirius clambered down the tiny street, trying not to get in anyone’s way, but getting in everyone’s way because of his injured hand. Although most people didn’t mind. It seemed that being a dragon was a novelty idea to this Earth and everyone wanted at least eighty pictures of him like any second he’d disappear.

Eventually (following the voice in his head) he made his way to a large open park, laying down, his injured hand tucked away beneath him carefully. 

Humans flocked around him and he watched them, gold eyes cautious, as they stayed a good distance away.  _ “You may approach... with good intention. Annoying an injured beast is unwise.” _

Loki rolled his eyes. “Attention seeker.”

Sirius snorted, wisps of fire curling around his snout, causing the people around his head to scramble back. It was soon after that news crews showed up, cameras rolling and a hoard of reporters coming up to his head. Questions were thrown at him like spears and he blinked slowly at the humans. 

He heard Loki scoff, standing to stretch, felt the boots walk down to the tip of his snout, and flicked his eyes up to meet the man’s amused gaze. “You had to draw in the media, didn’t you.”

When he didn’t answer, Loki walked up the bridge of his snout, back to the top of his head, finding that one particular spot on his head and scratching it. His tail twitched, knocking over a man. 

Loki burst out laughing.

_ “Loki.”  _ Sirius warned, voice deep.  _ “Do not use me for your amusement, tiny god, or I might find a snack in you.” _

The man snorted. “You’re injured, dear guardian. You couldn’t eat me if you tried.”

Tilting his head, Loki lost his balance and tumbled to the ground, Sirius’ uninjured hand coming to pin him down in a position identical to one the other man was in only minutes ago. A poke with his snout knocked the wind out of the god and Sirius chuckled, vibrations running through the ground.  _ “You think I am weak?” _

“I think I’m bored.” Loki let himself go limp under the talon, huffing.

With a toothy grin, Sirius picked Loki up by the back of his shirt and pushed the man forward with his claw.  _ “Why don’t you talk to the media then?” _

Immediately the reporters were on him like a pack of rabid wolves. 

Loki backed up against Sirius’ scales at the humans pressed forward, yelling about the alien invasion and why he’d done what he had.

“One at a time please.” Loki begged, looking almost overwhelmed.

None of the humans listened.

Sirius sat up more, injury still under him, but head tall. The voice in his head yelled and he stood suddenly.  _ “Loki. We have to go.”  _

Grabbing the man with his good hand, he took off into the air. Flying as fast as he could, he saw a window break, a man falling out of the SHIELD headquarters. Sirius snagged Captain America before he hit the ground, placing him down lightly. 

_ “Go, they will close the bridge soon.” _

Steve got on a motorcycle with Loki (both muttering about bad days and not liking the other) and Sirius pushed off, watching them from above. A jet flew in front of them and Sirius dove, grabbing the machine and ripping its wings off, sending it crashing down. 

He quickly grabbed the two men off the bike, watching as it crashed into the road spiked that had lifted.

Setting down Steve outside of the hospital, Sirius ignored the pain in his hand, shifting back into a human. He carefully hid his hand from sight. “Go. Get the flashdrive. Follow what’s on it.”

Steve ran off.

Loki frowned, turning to him. “All fine and dandy… except for one thing. Your hand?” 

Sirius shook his head. “We have things to do.”

“Sirius Orion Black…” Loki stepped forward, looking down at him with glinting eyes. “If you do not show me your hand willingly I will make you show me by force.”

With a sigh, Sirius held out his hand. A patch of skin on the back was missing, blood dripping down his fingers onto the sidewalk. 

“You need to get this looked at.”

“I  _ need  _ to help Steve and Natasha.”

Loki’s grip on his arm tightened. “We are going to get this looked at. Any advice you have, you will  _ call them _ .”

They stared each other down. 

Sirius sighed. “Fine.”

 

The front desk was about to press security on Loki when Sirius held up his hand. “Actual medical issue. Don’t worry. He does anything stupid and i’ll take care of him myself.”

One of the women whispered something to the other two receptionists, before waving them over. “Sorry about that. What seems to be the problem?”

“My hand. It’s wounded.” Sirius smiled tightly. 

“Your name?” 

Sirius was about to answer when Loki leaned in, voice smooth. “Look. I know you and the rest of the planet doesn't like me at the moment, but _he’s_ an Avenger. Unfortunately Stark’s kind of busy right now and told us to come here.”

The woman looked at Sirius then, recognition in her eyes. “Oh! You’re Orion! The- the dragon guy!”

“Dragon guy. Yeah.” Sirius sighed. “That’s me.”

They were lead back to a private room and a doctor came in, giving Sirius an antibiotic, washing out the wound and wrapping it.

The pulling in his gut lead him do draw out his phone. The voice in his head hissed out a series of numbers and reluctantly Sirius typed them in, pressing call. 

A flat voice answered. “What.”

“Natasha don’t hang up it’s Sirius. In both ways. Zola is trying to stall you. You have a missile heading your way. Get out and get to Sam.”

“Who?” 

“Steve’ll know.” Sirius hung up, before frowning at Loki. “I don’t like it. I should be there helping them. Merlin knows they need it.”

“Too bad. You're injured from that stupid man with the metal arm, so you have to heal.” Loki's eyes narrowed on him. “Now sit down and rest before I pump you full of anesthetics you cant feel your limbs.”

He sighed, rolling his eyes as he handed the smug god the phone, laying down on the bed. "They better be okay or we'll both be in trouble." At Loki's eye roll, Sirius just stuck his tongue out and rolled onto his side, closing his eyes. 


	8. All Fun and Games Until Someone Puts Nasty Ass War Paint On Their Face- That Stuff's Not Eatable!

Sirius was back in Azkaban, he could feel it from the second he woke up. The cold cement on his skin, the chill in the air that clung to him, pulled all of the happiness out of him.

He blinked, but there was only the creeping chill that seemed to seep deep into his bones. “Loki? Death?”

No one answered.

“No! No I have to go back! Please!” He fell to his knees, bony hands curled around the bars of his cell. “Don’t keep me here!”

The familiar sound of screams and chilling sadness crept up on him. Turning, he was met with the hoods of a group of dementors floating towards him.

“No- no... _please_. I was doing okay." His voice broke as he shuffled back into the same corner he used to hide in. "I was helping...” 

Bony hands gripped his throat and then a toothless mouth came forward. He could feel the pull as it started to suck out what was left of his soul. 

It was just about to give him the kiss-

 

“ _ Wake up _ !”

Sirius shot up, eyes wide.

Loki looked shaken, eyes panicked. “You weren’t waking up. Kept mumbling about… prison?”

Sirius looked down to see his hand was healed. Flipping it over, he saw his prison scar was an angry pink and rubbed at it reflexively. “Long story.” He stood, shaking the thoughts out of his head. “We have to go.”

“Where?”

Sirius grabbed Loki’s arm and suddenly they were standing at a bank. 

“We need to make a withdrawal.” He linked arms with Loki. “Death, grant me the powers of Ignotus.” With a shimmer, invisibility covered the two of them. Sirius waved his hand and their footsteps were instantly silent.

Making their way through the back, they slipped into the back of a room, watching as a man talked to the Soldier in the leather armor. 

Sirius cast a privacy charm around them, voice still a whisper. “Wait until the blonde man leaves. Then we lock it down, allowing me time to put the Soldier’s mind back together.” Loki nodded and they both turned to watch.

The man in the suit, Pierce, sat down. “Your work has been a  _ gift  _ to mankind… You shaped the century, and I need you to do it one more time. Society’s at a tipping point between order and chaos. Tomorrow morning we’re going to give it a push. But… If you don’t do your part, I can’t do mine. And HYDRA can’t give the world the freedom it deserves.”

The man in the chair looked broken, bags under his eyes, hair hanging limply. “But I knew him.” He pressed his mouth into a line briefly and Sirius could see the tremor of pain and fear in the man's eyes. 

He knew that look, the one of an endless prison that would never leave. 

He'd seen it every day in the face of the man in the cell across from him.

Sirius canceled all the spells. “Yeah _fuck_ _this_.” 

Transforming he whipped around, slicing two of the guards with his tail, knocking another two out with his wings. Loki knocked out a guard and then smashed another man’s face against the floor with a sharp kick.

Peirce ran out and Loki was about to go after him when Sirius shook his head slightly.

A man in a tac-vest shot at him. It ricochet, hitting another guard and Sirius bit the man’s arm off, spitting out the gun. He ripped off the man’s vest and swallowed him whole. 

Loki winced. “The clothes… does it bother you?”

_ “Everything burns away in my stomach. It is not a pretty death... But no. He tasted like chicken.”  _ Transforming back, he gave Loki a grin before turning to the Soldier. “We meet again.”

“Who- who are you?”

Sirius whistled. “They really did a number on you didn’t they... Okay. Loki? Lock it down.” Loki closed the vault and Sirius sat down on a rolly chair like he’d seen in the human doctor’s office, rolling forward. “Do you want to be free? Because I need at least partial consent to mess with your mind.”

“Free?”

“Yeah… like- what’s your favorite color?”

The man tilted his head. “The asset does not have favorite colors.”

“ Damn  you're   _worse_ than any _  Imperius _ … Okay listen to me, you could choose a favorite color if you were free. Do you want that?” Sirius forced a smile. “You would never be forced to do anything ever again.”

“I do not understand. What is the mission?”

A flash of light and Lady Magic was standing by Sirius’ side. “I’ll fix him, but he has to take the vow. He’s dangerous, more than you think and could cause the downfall of the whole plan.”

“I see that mother. Don’t worry.”

The woman smiled. “I always worry darling. That’s what mothers do best.” She placed a hand on the man’s forehead and Sirius watched as the man’s eyes fell closed, twitching back and forth. 

When she let go, his eyes opened slowly. “Where- what-”

“Do you vow to protect Earth from any danger that might see fit to destroy it? To be loyal to Sirius until his path has been completed?” The woman pressed her lips together as the man just gaped at her. “Answer now or I will destroy you where you stand.”

Sirius held out his hand.

The man, looking from Loki to Lady Magic, took Sirius’ hand. “I do?”

Sirius knew the man was confused, new to magic, so he tried to help. “Say ‘I vow it.’”

“I- I vow it.”

Lady Magic turned to Sirius. “And you, my son. Do you vow to protect this man? To never abuse your power over him?”

“I vow it.” Sirius softened his eyes, smiling at the Solder in what he hoped would provide a semblance of comfort.

“Then as it is vowed, so mote it be.” With a flash of light, Lady Magic was gone. Sirius looked down to see a golden snowflake on the inside of his elbow, smiling wryly.

“Can you tell me what’s happening?”

Sirius nodded. “Come on. Loki can answer all your questions while we fly.” They walked outside and he tossed his phone to Loki. “Call the number. Tell Natasha that she can’t release all the names and to sort them by whether they’re bookmarked or not. That should separate the HYDRA agents from the SHIELD agents. Tell her that there’s active agents on assignment and that she’d be blowing their cover… And to take off the pin. It’s rigged.”

Loki nodded.

Sirius transformed and Loki snickered at the Soldier’s face, calling Natasha. He relayed the message while helping the other man climb onto Sirius’ head. Hanging up the phone, Loki grinned at the Soldier. “Hold on.”

Sirius pushed himself into the air, flying as fast as he could. 

They landed in time to see the helicarriers go up in flames. A chopper landed next to them, Sam touching down with Steve. 

Natasha got out of the chopper, pointing her gun at the Soldier. “Stay away from him! He’s dangerous!”

Sirius transformed. “Not anymore.”

Steve stepped forward. “Bucky?”

“You’re still a punk.” The man broke into a crooked smile and the two met for a hug. “Hey Stevie.”

Fury eyed Sirius. “You running some type of villain rehab center? Does he have to stay with you all the time too?”

The Soldier looked back, clearly curious about the answer as well.

Sirius smiled. “Nah. Loki just sticks around me because no one else likes him.” Loki punched him in the shoulder and he laughed. “But i’m not gonna be the one to tell Stark about his parents!” With a wink to Natasha, he grabbed Loki, apperating away.

James ‘Bucky’ Barnes frowned at the now empty space, before looking at the others. “Who  _ is _ that guy?”

Fury snorted. “We know about as much about him as you do. That he turns into a dragon and that he thinks he knows every-fucking-thing that goes on. Troble is, mosta the time? He's dead right.”

“That lady, the one that fixed my mind…” Barnes turned to Steve. “I think I met God. And I think _he_ ’s a ‘ _she_ ’.”

 

“THE TIME HAS COME TO REJOICE AND RENOUNCE YOUR PALTRY GODS.” 

Sirius and Loki stumbled from the space-travel, Loki sneering at a yelling blue skinned man, leaning into whisper to Sirius. “That’s a kree for you. Violent and crazy. Even more so with an infinity stone. Good thing you can stop him.” 

He hummed noncommittally, pressing his lips together and narrowing his eyes. 

Loki looked at him, eyes dangerous. “ _Can't you_?”

Sirius smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, voice low. “Not while he holds the infinity stone I can’t.”

“Shouldn't we get out of here then?” Loki hissed. “We aren't on Earth. We don't  _ have _ to save these people.”

He rolled his eyes.

“YOUR SALVATION IS AT HAND!” The kree was in the middle of yelling in some language when a man stood up and started singing.

“ _ O-oh, child, things are gonna get easier... O-oh child, things will get brighter. _ You listen to these words.” The man was dancing, and Sirius chuckled at the idiocy and bravery of the half-human. “ _ O-oh child, things are gonna get easier. O-oh child, things'll get brighter. _ Then bring it down hard!  **_Someday_ ** -"

"What are you doing?" The kree frowned, confused.

The man was now gyrating his hips. "Dance-off, bro. Me and you.” The kree furrowed his eyebrows. The man held out a hand to a green-skinned woman. “Gamora…!”

She shook her head frantically. 

The other man rolled with it. “Subtle... taking it back." He started dancing again.

"What ARE YOU  _ DOING _ ?”

The man was shuffling, a grin on his face. "I'm distracting you, you big turd blossom!"

The kree turned, a raccoon put two wires together, and a large gun fired. The blast hit the hammer the kree was welding and separating him from the stone. Both men started for the stone.

Sirius took the opportunity. “I name you!” The stone shot to the space in front of him, like it was examining him and the others all turned in surprise. “Not an Orb, as you have been called by many, but as an Infinity Stone. I name you the Power Stone and I intend to work with you, not under you or above you, to further Fate's plans. Then, and only then, will I lay you to rest. Do you accept these terms?”

The orb pulsed.

“Yes. I am able to handle you. No, you can’t kill me. And yes, I have your sibling.”

With a pulsing, vibrating, all-consuming light the stone sunk into his skin. Only, unlike the other, it burned though every crevice of his body, igniting every nerve, dancing with the reality stone as they ripped him apart from the inside.

He couldn’t hear himself scream. Didn’t see the way blood spit up from his mouth, how he crumpled to his knees. But he held up a hand in Loki’s direction, knowing the man would try to help.

Then there was nothing. 

No pain, no consuming fire.

Sirius stood, looking down to where a purple band surrounded the tree of life on his arm. He grinned, blood staining his teeth, at Ronan the Accuser. “Let’s see what kree tastes like.”

Transforming, he ripped the blue-skinned man apart, before proceeding to spit the chunks out almost instantly.  _ “Foul! Disgusting! What blood runs through his veins?  _ **_Mud?_ ** _B_ _ loody hell!" _

Loki laughed. “He did have that black stuff on his face- but hey, I told you eating people would turn go wrong for you.”

Sirius shifted back, proceeding to throw up. “Fuck that guy tasted like shit.”

“Who  _ are _ you?” The dancing man stared at him. 

The bad taste in his mouth cleared up and he straightened back up, smiling. “Hi! I’m Sirius and this is my companion Loki. We just kinda saved you and- wow- _ now I feel sick _ .” He bent over, clutching his stomach. “So absorbing an infinity stone won't do shit to me, but some _mud_ on a guy’s face is all it takes?”

“You do have a weak stomach.” Loki chimed in, before smiling at the group. “Sorry for my guardian. He’s a bit stupid sometimes.”

“What’s with these sticks on the ground?” Sirius knelt down, picking up a stick. “They’re… alive. Shit! Okay um…” He licked the stick, nodding and then shoving it into the ground.

“What are you doing?” 

Sirius waved at the raccoon. “Ignoring the talking raccoon...  _ magic _ .” He whispered the spell he’d learned from Madam Pomfrey after he and James had killed her favorite tree. 

The stick grew, larger and more complex until it waved at him, standing tall. “I am Groot.”

“Groot!” The raccoon ran over.

Sirius nodded. “Right. Well, talking tree aside… have fun? I guess? I’m going to go sleep for like six days.” 

He hooked arms with Loki, disappearing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up Next:   
> How To Definitely Ruin Parties FT. Tony Stark's Murder Bot


	9. How To Definitely Ruin Parties FT. Tony Stark's Murder Bot Child

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for a the ol' angst steamroller!

Sirius looked up at Stark tower. 

With its sleek design and expanse of blue glass windows, he felt insignificant. 

Tiny really. 

Yeah, Hogwarts and Asgard were amazing with their old fashioned architecture and the smell of soil clinging to their walls… but this new world? Sirius was in awe.

After traveling the world with Loki for the past six months, seeing everything he’d wanted to see in his last life… He was back, to see the team, to help out other than pull people from accidents, fix minor mistakes.

 

He stepped into the building, Loki following.

A woman with dark hair that he faintly remembered being there for the fall of SHIELD stepped up to them. “The party’s upstairs. Follow me.”

The assent was slow, the soft music playing in the background of the elevator slowly being covered up by the thumping of loud party music as they moved further up.

The elevator doors opened to a party- Thor’s going away they had been invited to. 

Well...  _ he  _ had been invited. Loki had been told not to cause a scene or he’d be hurt with a vengeance. 

Smiling, Sirius walked wherever Loki decided he wanted to go, talking to a bunch of different people.

He even got to meet Rhodey, a man with a wonderful smile and an even better sense of humor. The man threatened Loki a total of sixteen (16) times. It was hilarious (though Sirius was sure he wasn’t fully joking). 

James Barnes (or Bucky as Steve kept insisting) said hello briefly, though Sirius could tell it was more of a ‘thank you’ than anything. 

But at the end of the evening, when everyone was settling down, a strange feeling caught up to Sirius. 

Something felt wrong. 

Some sort of imbalance in the air around him. 

He tried to ignore it, watch the others make fools of themselves trying to lift Thor’s hammer, but it stayed. 

Grew.

Then it hit home, digging into his mind and making his vision white out with images of destruction, total annihilation across all of Earth. 

“ What did you _ do? _ ” Sirius stood, images flashing through his head and he gripped at his hair. “No no no. What are you doing?  _ STOP _ !”

“Sirius?”

Blinking, he opened his eyes to see the others looking worried. His eyes zeroed in on Tony Stark and he stepped forward unsteadily, lips curling up into a sneer. “What did you  _ do _ ?”

The genius blinked. “I-”

“You altered time. You altered  _ everything _ . What was it? What did you do?” The wave of wrongness hit Sirius again and he stumbled, crumpling to the ground. “What- what did  _ I _ do… They- I killed...” His hands were holding his wand and he looked up to see he was there in the middle of a street, the bodies of the twelve muggles lying around him.

A hand settled on his shoulder.

Sirius looked up. 

A shimmering form, a corporeal patronus stood in front of him. Not of an animal though. Remus Lupin smiled, put his hand on Sirius’ face gently. “Padfoot.”

“Remus?” Sirius winced as another wave of painful images hit him. “Moony. Please- I didn’t- I swear I didn’t mean to-”

Remus sunk to his knees in front of him, face calm. “Sirius... Padfoot. You need to focus.”

“It’s too strong. I can’t-”

“You have to.” Remus smiled. “Come on Sirius. You remember taking me on, near the shrieking shack? I was full-on wolf and you came at me, pushing me away from Harry and the others? Use that care, that need to help people, Padfoot... you can do it. Push through.” 

“Okay.” Sirius clenched his hands, moving to stand. 

The  _ thing, _ the energy in the air shifted as if it felt he was trying to fight back. And it pushed even harder. A chill spread over Sirius, sucking the happiness out of his bones. 

Remus seemed to flicker. 

“No!” Sirius reached out, but the werewolf was gone. 

Tony’s eyes were wide on something behind him. “What- what is that...”

Sirius turned slowly, the scar on the inside of his wrist burning. Slowly gliding towards him, black cloak fluttering even in the still air, was a dementor. 

Heimdall’s comment burned in the back of his brain, haunting.  _ “That does not mean that will not come when you call…” _

“I didn’t call you!” Sirius shouted, voice shaking. “You- you don’t belong here! You can’t take me back!” The creature floated forward, bony hand reaching out to curl around his neck. He could feel the happiness in the room wither, being sucked out of the air like a vacuum.

“Sirius.” His eyes fell to a man with round glasses to his left, standing with his arm around a redhead, his smile fond. “You never showed up. I thought you would want to see us?”

“Don’t listen to them!” Remus flickered back into existence to his right. “Sirius, something’s not right here-”

“Honey…” The woman’s voice was soft. “You fell through the veil. You were dead, you were coming home to us... None of this is real Siri… come back home.”

Sirius felt his lips waver, closing his eyes to blink away the tears. “Lilyflower?”

“That’s right Siri. Come to us.” Lily held out her hands.

“Hey. Dunderhead.”

Sirius froze, looking to where Harry was standing, brighter than anything else around him. “H-Harry?”

“Snuffles, you know that mom and dad would never ask you to do this.” Harry put his hands on his hips, looking disappointed. “And you say you’re better than me. Come on Sirius. Snap out of it.”

Lily and James faded, the dementor turned to dust and the room seemed to lighten once more. Sirius looked at Harry. “Why- why are you here Harry?”

“I’m only a memory. Different world, remember? And seriously, _no pun intended_ , you need to stop punishing yourself. You didn’t kill those people.” Harry reached out, about to touch the man before dropping his arm. “If you can survive Azkaban for eleven years, you can do anything… well except maybe defeat Voldemort, but that’s my job.” With a wink the boy disappeared.

“Who-” Tony started

“Shut up.” Sirius closed his eyes, pulling on every available thread of future he could see, looking for a way out of the mess the man had made. His eyes flew open and he turned, plastering on a fake chipper attitude. “Hello. Come to join us? We were just talking about Thor’s hammer. Apparently Clint’s not worthy.”

_ “Worthy?… No.” _ A discombobulated mockery of the iron man suit leaking black sludge, limped in, it’s voice distorted.  _ “How could you be worthy? You’re all  _ **_killers_ ** _.” _

“Stark.” Steve’s voice was tight.

“JARVIS?” Tony asked the air. Nothing happened.

_ “I’m sorry, I was asleep. Or I was a dream…”   _ Stark muttered, tapping at his phone. 

Sirius kept his eyes on the machine, watching as it kept  talking.  _ “There was this terrible noise. And I was tangled in…  in strings.”  _ It looked at it’s limbs like it still expected to be attached in those same strings.  _ “Had to kill the other guy... He was a good guy.” _

“You killed someone?” Steve sounded incredulous.

_ “Wouldn’t have been my first call. But… down in the real world we’re faced with ugly choices.” _

“Who sent you?” Thor boomed, looking ready to fight.

Tony’s voice spilled out of the machine. ““I see a suit of armor around the world.””

“...Ultron...” Banner gasped lightly.

_ “In the flesh… Or no, not yet... Not this- Christmas. But i’m ready. I’m on a mission.” _

“What mission?” Natasha’s voice was steady.

The robot cocked it’s head. Sirius mouthed the words along with the machine.  _ “Peace in our time.” _

Two more suits exploded from the walls.

Sirius watched as the group fought them off, still staring at the disfigured machine in front of him.

Finally, the fighting stopped around them.

_ “That was dramatic. I’m sorry. I know you mean well. You just didn’t think it through. You want to protect the world but you don’t want it to change… How is humanity saved if it’s not allowed to… evolve?” _  The machine picked up one of the Iron Legion suits.  _ “Look at these. These… puppets.” _ It crushed the suit’s head.

Sirius took a step back.

_ “There’s only one path to peace-… the Avengers extinction.”  _ Thor’s hammer crushed the robot’s body, but it’s voice kept going.  _ “I had strings, but now i’m free.” _

Sirius collapsed back onto the sofa, finishing the line he could hear in his brain. “There are no strings on me.”

 

Sirius sat numbly as the others talked about nukes, about Ultron, about Jarvis laying in destruction. Thor stormed in, upset about the scepter being gone, and the topic changed to one of blame.

“I don’t understand… You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?” The other Doctor asked. 

Dr. Cho, the voice in his head supplied helpfully, an important part in most all of Ultron's plans.

Tony turned to his screens, chuckling after a second. Bruce shook his head at the man.

“You think this is funny?” Thor stepped forward.

“No? It’s probably not… right?” The genius looked around. “This is very terrible? Is it so- is it so- it is... It’s so terrible.” He was still chuckling.

“This could have been avoided if you-”

“No.” Sirius’ voice was soft, yet everyone looked over. “No, he’s not to blame.”

“See!” Tony pointed at him. “The fortune teller knows! There’s an endgame! How are we planning to beat the aliens that come knocking at our door?”

Steve, as always, had an answer. “Together.”

Sirius let his dry laughter echo around the room, standing up. “You all need help. This, none of this was done together…” He shook his head. “Mother forgive me but I have to leave. You are on your own with this one. Even I won’t intervene in this until you prove you can work together.”

He held out his arm, but the man next to him didn’t move.

Looking over, Sirius frowned. “Loki?”

Loki had a somber look on his face. “I vowed to protect this Earth. Just because you are to scared to face whatever past this dredged up, doesn’t mean i’ll stay on the sidelines and break my vow.” He looked at the other Avengers. “If you’ll have me, I want to fight. The scepter was my fault and I wish to fix it.”

Steve, glancing at Sirius, nodded. “You’re more than welcome to fight with us… for now.”

“Fine.” Sirius felt the scar on his wrist sting. “Have fun.”

With a wave of his hand he was gone.

 

Sirius sat alone, watching the stars. The air was chilled, but he didn’t bother to turn up his collar or pull his hoodie tighter around him.  He just sat, waited until footsteps stopped behind him. 

“You. You're the man that knows too much.” The voice was grating, low and metallic.

“And _you’re_ afraid.” His voice was soft.

“Of you?” The mechanical voice was sarcastic.

Sirius didn’t turn. “Of death. So I guess in a  _ way-  _ Me.” 

The metal man didn’t comment on that. “Stark asked for a savior and settled for a criminal.”

Sirius looked at his wrist, scar an angry pink. “I suppose we’re both disappointments... But is that all you know about me? You can’t know what I did or where I went… and that- that scares you.”

“I know you killed. You blame yourself. The spirits said as much.” A heavy footstep was taken towards him. “Where  _ did  _ you go? Who  _ are  _ you?”

“Something more, like you…” Sirius finally looked up at the man made of metal. “Something from a time unlike this.”

Ultron stared at him. “Then you know. The humans are doomed.”

“Yes.” Sirius looked back out to the stars. “Yes they are… But not yet. And not if I have a say in it.”

Yet you don’t try to attack, unlike the others. You sit alone. You… are waiting for something. Tell me, what is so important to you that you would let your enemy make their moves without doing anything?”

Sirius looked up at the robot. “I’m alone and in pain. You are too, I know that. Why do  _ you  _ do this? Why do  _ you  _ hate so much?”

“Tony Stark.”

“Ah…” Sirius smiled crookedly. “Yes. The son wants to best the father…” He stood. “Well. You should be doing things rather than standing here with me.” 

Ultron turned.

“Oh. Just thought you’d like to know…" Sirius grinned, but there was no humor in it. "You won’t win.”

Ultron’s red eyes flashed back at him, narrowing slightly. “Not with  _ this  _ body.” 

Then he was gone.

Sirius sat down, laid back, went over the strings of time again and again. 

A harsh white light against his eyelids made him stop, open his eyes.  Lady Magic was sitting in a chair made of vines, twisting from the earth. “He messed with your head. Used the mind stone to try to figure you out, see what makes you tick... I have to say, it was quite impressive what he did, making you show your hand like that.” The woman's eyes were glittering like endless galaxies and for once they were more sinister than comforting. "You know he cannot win."

He had to pry his eyes away, frowning. “I know.”

The woman narrowed her eyes. “So why are you ignoring my guidance? Why are you refusing to help? Do you  _ want  _ them to die? Do you  _ want  _ to see the world fall?”

Sirius closed his eyes, shrugging. “I would live.”

“And I would kill Harry Potter.”

His eyes flew open and he scrambled to stand. “Why! What’s the point! They keep making these problems, dooming themselves! Why do you want to protect this world when they constantly try to overtake you? Try to play god?” Sirius felt something wet slide down his cheek. “Look I- I just want to go home…”

“You can’t.” The woman’s voice was flat. “Natasha is struggling with this too, but you both are stuck where you are now. I wouldn’t put either of you back even if I could.”

Sirius huffed lifelessly. “You expect me to work for you, to die for your cause over and over again. What’s in it for me?”

The woman stepped forward, eyes flashing with something dangerous. “You and Natasha both know how to take orders. That’s why you two were picked. To do the things that others wouldn’t. Now… do you want a  _ say  _ in the matter or should I use your body like a  _ puppet _ ?... I’m letting you live Sirius Black. Do what I say.”

“Everyone’s wrong.” Sirius sneered. “Death’s not the cruel one. You are.”

Life smiled, teeth too white, face too pretty, and eyes a endless abyss ready to suck anything into it's depths. “The curse of knowledge… Now go do your job.”

With the feeling of falling, he found himself sucked away to a different place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up Next:  
> Getting Murdered to Prove A Point


	10. Getting Murdered to Prove A Point (Multiple Times)

Sirius fell, crashing through the ceiling of an office inside what looked like to be a huge warehouse. 

After a second of struggling to get back the breath that was knocked out of him, he slowly pulled himself up.  “Fucking bitch.” Looking up he two enhanced siblings standing next to a guy with loads of tattoos and one red branding mark on his neck. “Oh good. Super-villain conference meeting. Well then, excuse me.”

Slipping out of the office, he walked towards where the vibranium was kept. A tall metal man, not unlike the one he'd conversed with a few minutes ago, was standing there, in his way. “You decided to make your move.”

“Not that you would know, but mothers can be so… demanding.”

Ultron hummed.  _ “I got no strings, to hold me down. To make me fret or make me frown. I had strings, but now i'm free…” _ He stepped forward, grabbing Sirius by the throat and lifting him off his feet. 

Sirius didn't struggle, just smiled over the machines shoulder at where the Avengers had just come in.

_ “I had strings but now i'm free… there are no strings on me!”  _

The cold hand snapped his neck and Sirius died.

 

Sirius woke up, not in a bright medical facility, but in a dark cell. 

He panicked for a brief second, before he saw the twins watching him. The girl, Wanda, stared at him curiously while her brother glared from where he was standing at her back. “I can not see your mind.”

Sirius rolled his head, hearing his neck crack and pop. “You're surprised, after I died and came back to life in front of you, that you can't see in my head? Tough crowd. I’ll have to re-prioritize my magic tricks next time.”

“Who are you?”

“My biggest threat.” Ultron stepped closer from the shadows. “After I killed you, the Vibranium was gone. All of it, disappeared into thin air. When you were alive it was there. Then it was not.”

Sirius smiled. “Release enough magic, it creates a chain reaction. You kill something, well that's a  _ lot  _ of magical energy. Enough to send back the Vibranium to its rightful place with a thank you note. Signed and everything.”

“I still have the scepter.”

“And I still have magic.” With a wink, he was standing in a ruined building.

 

Sirius' vision changed, pulling him into the recent events, and he saw people were screaming, running as Hulk rampaged. How enraged he had been, but when he'd come out of the magical daze, how destroyed both Banner and the Hulk had been to see all those people running in fear for their lives. He blinked, once again standing in the ruin of the building. 

“Always picking up after people...” With a sigh he manifested a blade. “Autie, Mother, I call on you. Bring back what was lost, fix what was destroyed.” He cut his wrist, watching the blood drip to the ground, sizzling where it touched. “All deaths, I will die. All ruin I will weather. Make my body the channel…”

Sirius closed his eyes tightly.

“And set the spirits free.”

Sirius felt his body get torn apart by massive hands, slowly knitting itself back together before he was torn apart again. Even when hands wasn't ripping him limb from limb, metal fists were punching him, and he could feel every injury anyone had been dealt in the fight. 

When that stopped, his atoms burned like they had been set on fire, ripping themselves apart to repair the damage. Demolished buildings, ripped apart cars, the broken Iron Man suit… he felt it all like branding irons pressing in on every side.

Then the pain was gone and Sirius Black died again, laying in a pool of his own blood and flesh.

 

“The amount of tissue and blood found around him, he shouldn’t be alive, much less breathing. His blood, it almost seems to be alive… and there’s some type of bonding component, that if I didn't know it was impossible, I would say was glowing gold…”

“ _ Magic _ .” Sirius croaked out and the woman sucked in a breath, scrambling back. “Sorry… I- the stuff in my blood, it's magic-” He raised his hands, as he sat up slowly. “I don’t mean to scare you Dr. Cho.”

The woman eyed him as the other lab technicians surrounding her gaped. “You seem to know me, yet I don’t know you.”

“Sirius Orion Black.” A familiar metallic voice rang out and everyone in the room stiffened. 

Sirius smiled at where Ultron stood partially in shadows, carefully getting up and standing between the robot and the lab technicians. “Hey tin can. You're here for the cradle right? You brought the glow stick and everything.”

“Move from my way, Black. I liked you better when you were in pain.”

A short laugh. “Yeah. And i'm sorry to disappoint, I really am, but I only go into depressive episodes when someone reminds me of the family I lost… and you have no power to do that seeing as you cant even find them.” He rocked back on his heels. “Plus someone already has their fingers on my family and i'm more scared of her than i'll  _ ever  _ be of you. Hell the worst thing  _ you  _ could do is kill me!”

Ultron narrowed his eyes.

“Fortunately for you, she’s told me to work with you.” He stepped aside. “If you would do me a favor Dr. Cho, don’t resist.”

One of the bots pressed the scepter to the woman’s chest, her eyes turning black before bright blue. Ultron turned to him. “The Vibranium.”

Sirius smiled. “Just enough for your newfangled body.” He pulled out a single cylinder. “Use it well, Murder Bot.”

 

Helen Cho breathed. “It’s beautiful. The Vibranium atoms aren’t just compatible with the tissue cells, they’re binding them. And SHIELD never thought...”

“The most versatile substance on the planet and they used it to make a frisbee.” Ultron deadpanned, making Sirius chuckle from where he was watching off to the side.

One of the bots turned on a laser, penetrating the blue orb of the scepter. It shattered, a golden stone floating up. 

Right before Ultron could get his hands onto it though, Sirius spoke up. “I name you.”

The stone shot to the space in front of him, pulsing. 

Ultron turned, voice murderous. “Black…”

He put up a barrier with the Power stone, watching as the metal man pounded on the side. “I name you, not as Loki’s scepter, not as a weapon, but as a source of knowledge. I name you one of the six infinity stones, the Mind Stone, and I ask to work with you. See in my mind who I am and know that your brethren have sided with me. Do you accept?”

The mind stone pulsed, like it was trying to communicate, and Sirius let down the barrier. The stone flew to Ultron’s hand.

“Very well.” Sirius sat down heavily. “Go on. It chose you for some reason.”

The machine tried to smile, turning to put the stone into the man’s head lying in the cradle. “Betrayal does not suit you Black.”

“And smiling doesn’t suit you.” Sirius glared at the metal machine. “Stop it. You look horrendous.”

Helen Cho worked to plug Ultron into the machine.

Sirius looked to Wanda, nodded her to the cradle. She took his advice, stepping forward an astounded look on her face. “I can read him… He is dreaming.”

Dr. Cho started with her science facts. “I wouldn’t call it dreams. It’s Ultron’s base consciousness. Informational noise. Soon-”

“How soon?” Ultron asked impatiently.

Sirius tuned out the conversation, standing up. He watched Wanda put her hands on the cradle and close her eyes. Then with a yell she pulled away. “How  _ could you?” _

Ultron stood, his voice flat. “How could I what?”

“You said that we would  _ destroy  _ the Avengers!” Wanda looked so much like Bellatrix did when she was young and innocent. It hurt his heart (and his head) to see the betrayal in her eyes. “Make a better world!”

“It will be better.” 

Wanda looked stricken. “When everyone is dead?”

Ultron narrowed his eyes. “That is not- The human race will have every opportunity to improve!”

Pietro turned from where he had been consoling his sister, face disbelieving. “And if they don’t?”

“Ask Noah.”

Sirius was in front of them. “You get it. He’s insane. Don’t worry.” Thinking as hard as he could, he practically projected the message onto Wanda to leave and within an instant they were gone. He saw the flash of Dr. Cho’s eyes and glanced to her, hoping she didn't do anything stupid until he could get her to safety. 

Ultron frowned at him. “You… constantly in my way like a thorn.” He stepped forward. “What do I have to do to kill you off and make it stick?”

“Ask nicely?”

Ultron’s face twisted in what could only be described as a sneer. “I hope you die for good this time.” With a lazer that cut through his chest, Sirius watched as the cradle and Helen Cho disappeared in a flash of light. “NO! WHAT DID YOU DO!”

Sirius laughed, the sound hollow, the taste of blood in his mouth. “You never learn, do you? Always with the rash impulsive murders...”

Ultron tilted his head. “I see a Quinjet! They will not excap-” A second later he punched a lab station, destroying it with a growl. “They turned on  _ stealth mode! _ ”

Sirius grinned, a thousand jokes forming in his head but unable to get them out.

“No worries.” The machine looked at him, red eyes narrowing. “I can just kill the rest of your little friends. Starting with _Loki_.”

The bot moved out and Sirius fell to the floor, watching as he left. 

Soon there was a displacement of air and the twins were suddenly by his side. “Does he have the cradle?”

“No. Stark does.” Sirius managed, gasping. “Please Wanda- Go. Help the others and tell them that he must live. The man- He must live.”

The woman backed up. “I will help your people. But not that- that _thing_. It must die.”

Sirius watched as they left, coughing up blood and dying slowly, hoping the others would help to bring Vision to life. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Up: Daddy Issues and Burning Cities Have A Lot In Common Actually


	11. Daddy Issues and Burning Cities Have A Lot In Common Actually

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a plate of fresh action and angst for you...

“Get up.”

Sirius blinked up at the tall blonde woman. “Mother?”

She pulled him up, pressing her hand to the wound and it healed, a shock being sent through his body like a recharged battery. “Go. They need you.” 

Then she was gone and he was standing at the back of the room, all the Avengers fighting. 

 

Thor stood on the cradle, powering up his hammer with lightning and then pushing the crackling light into the machine. 

After a second, it exploded, throwing Thor back. 

A man, with red and silver skin perched on the cradle. There was a pause and then he lunged for Thor, but the god threw the man out the window of the lab. The man stopped mid air just before he crashed through the window to the outside, staring out at the city that was light up against the night sky.

Sirius made his way forward, ignoring the others to stand next to where the man was floating, looking out on the city. “Fleeting, isn’t it? The mind stone knows time and you see more than usual, but still… you do not see all." He didn't look from the dark night sky, voice soft.

The man didn’t look at him. “You are two infinity stones from being weak, two marks from being human... And yet I feel that you will die, like all humans eventually do. That you...” There was a pause. “Have killed.”

Sirius rubbed at his scared wrist absentmindedly. “There are lives on my hands, yes. I was sent to a place so evil that they branded me to feel it every time that I think of it.” He laughed bitterly. “But I am not evil, nor a killer. I am merely…”

“A pawn?” The man sunk to the ground, clothing manifesting on his body, and eyes fixed on Sirius. “I see her grip on you. May I ask? What is so important to you that you choose to work for Life and Death themselves?”

“My family. The only one I have left.” With a wave of his hand, a crowd of people surrounded them, all silvery light. 

Remus, Ron, Hermione, Lily, James, Tonks, The Weasleys, and Harry. 

Harry stepped forward, nodding to Vision, before turning to Sirius. “I’m alright Snuffles. You know that the other champion is doing all she can to kill Voldemort. You know that i’ll be alright.” The boy’s hand was almost to Sirius’ face when they all faded.

Sirius looked up at the man. “So now you see. The beauty of mankind in all its failings… Go on brother, go meet the people we protect.” Leaning back, he watched as the man talked his way through trying to convince the Avengers he wasn’t Ultron.

“-maybe I am a monster. I don’t think i’d know if I were one. I’m not what you are, and not what you intended. In actuality I am most like Death’s speaker up there…” The group glanced to where Sirius was watching them. “So there may be no way for you to trust me. But we need to go.”

Then with ease, Vision picked up Thor’s hammer and held it out to the god.

Everyone in the room froze and Thor’s face was confused as he took the hammer. 

Sirius laughed as he followed Vision out of the main area. “I think he picked a  _ pretty good way _ to convince you.”

 

“No way we all get through this. If even one tin soldier left standing then we’ve lost. It’s gonna be blood on the floor.” Tony’s voice was grim.

“I got no plans tomorrow night.” Steve looked up at Stark with something unreadable in his eyes.

Tony didn't seem to notice it. “I get first crack at the big guy. Iron Man’s the one he’s waiting for.”

Vision walked past, voice flat. “That’s true. He hates you the most.”

Tony looked almost affronted and Sirius smirked, teasing before the genius could really get offended. “Daddy issues.  _ Major  _ ones.”

“Shut up Sirius.” Tony glared at him. 

“ _Make me big boy_ .” Sirius grinned saucily at the man, dodging the lamp that was thrown at him. 

Steve turned bright red, Banner covering his face with a hand. 

He rolled his eyes. “Sorry. Please, continue being serious- pun _fully_ intended.”

Steve coughed quietly, going back into soldier mode after a few seconds. “Ultron knows we’re coming. Odds are we’ll be riding into heavy fire. And that’s what we signed up for, but the people of Sokovia… They didn’t. So our priority is getting them out.”

Sirius nodded and upon seeing Loki headed his way, quickly mumbled something about meeting them there before apperating to the forest outside of Sokovia. The voice in his head muttered something about fate catching up to him eventually, but he ignored it, shifting.

 

Looking around, he saw that his dragon was bigger than ever, scales black that shimmered purple and red in the light.

With a loud roar, he took to the skies. 

The Quinjet flew past him not long after, landing and immediately trying to get people out of the city,  metal creations swarming the streets.

A tiny metal man flew up to him, watching the chaos below. “Do you see the beauty of it? The inevitability? You, Avengers, you are my meteor, my swift and terrible sword and the Earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me, it means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world… will be metal.”

_ “You will not survive the dust settling.” _ Sirius swiped his tail and the machine was cut in half. He raised his voice as much he could, ground shaking under his roaring voice.  _ “Ultron! You want to kill me? Come get me you ugly tin can!” _

There was the sound of thousand of humming noises and Sirius looked to see a swarm of metal bots flying at him. With a quick swoop, he turned, flying over the forest before he engaged. 

Thousands of metal men clambered to rip at him, trying to get under his scales, pry him apart. 

He twisted, crushing the bots as he moved, his flames melting the metal before they could attack, but there were so many.  He felt himself grow and suddenly he could cover the whole city if he sat down.

Then it was just a matter of sitting on the edge of the forest and playing ‘Swipe The Annoying Metal Flies Out Of The Fucking Sky’.

Fun game...  He would have to work on a better name though.

When that was done he shrunk down, weaving through the streets and stepping on the creatures, his weight smashing them like tiny metal crackers under his feet. Feeling the Reality Stone heat up, he created a barrier around the city, letting only humans out.

He got to where people were trying to get out of the city, planting himself in front of the bridge where the majority of the humans were running to, the bots following them.  _ “Go around me. I will keep the robots away.” _

The people did as told, running around him as he swiped at the metal bots. He saw a line of police firing at incoming bots, Pietro appearing with Wanda in his arms. He leaped over the officers to stand in between the twins and the guns right as they gave the cease fire command, but still felt a few bullets hit his hide, bouncing off. 

Wanda nodded at him in appreciation and Pietro gaped at him for a second before snapping out of it. "They have a dragon. Of course they do."

A helicarrier appeared in the sky and Sirius roared as it started shooting down the flying robots that were trying to get through the red-tinted barrier. 

“This is SHIELD?” Pietro looked to Steve.

“This is what SHIELD’s supposed to be.”

Pietro grinned. “This is not so bad.”

Then a silver Iron Man suit was flying out of the helicarrier, shooting down more robots. Rhodey, as Sirius remembered from the party. “Whoa! Your dragon’s even cooler in real life!” 

_ “I am no one’s dragon, but thank you.” _

Stark snorted. “Strong independent dragon don’t need no man.”

_ “Believe me Stark, it's not my independence that get's in the way of relationships. More the fact I turn into a dragon _ _.”  _ Sirius laughed, smoke curling around his snort as he clawed though more metal machines. 

Eventually, after the people were cleared from the city and safe behind Sirius’ barrier, he roared in triumph. 

Thor touched down next to him, voice booming over the empty city. “Is that the best you can do?!”

Suddenly thousands of bots were clamoring for them. Loki sneered at Thor, coming to stand on Sirius’ right. “You _had_ to ask brother.”

_“Don't worry. He will have to get through me to hurt these people.”_  

Ultron’s voice echoed for all and none of the bots at once. “We will get through your barrier, Sirius Black. It will fall after we _kill_ _you_... All of you against all of me, how could you possibly hope to stop me?”

Stark looked at Steve, something close to fondness in his tone. “Like the old man said… Together.”

The bots charged.

Sirius fought hard, like all the people of Sokovia's lives depended on him, because they did. Closing in the barrier as he fought, he made it so the bots were limited into a few blocks open space, whipping around and picking them off with his tail and claws. 

The others were fighting just as hard, Thor, Vision, Hulk, and Wanda doing some real damage. 

But not all of them were as powerful or as enhanced. 

Hearing a shout, he turned to see a bot had shot Pietro multiple times, Clint also looking worse for wear with a few bullet wounds, and Natasha holding her side looking pale.

_ “No!” _ He shifted, limiting the field so that the others were pushed behind the barrier, he was the only one left in the space with about a hundred robots left. He stood, black jeans ripped and shirt torn to shreds. With a wave his shirt was gone, jeans now dragonhide dueling pants, his hair tied back neatly. Magical tattoos stretched across his chest and shoulders from his time in Azkaban. “You want  _ me _ !  _ I  _ foiled your plans for the meteor.  _ I  _ took your ‘Vision’ from you. You want  _ me _ .”

The robots moved forward, coming to surround him but leaving a gap. “You think you will not die as I have killed you two times before? I will kill you and then kill the others. And when this world is ending and the only people left are you and I… I will find every possible way you can die. _Over and over again_.”

Sirius held his head high.

“I’ve got no strings, so I have fun. I’m not tied up to anyone.” Ultron hummed out the words.

Sirius sneered, channeling the inner loathing he'd always seen from Severus Snape. “Pinocchio... all he wanted was to be a real boy. Well guess what?... You’ll  _ never  _ be more than scraps of metal.” 

The bots charged. 

Even using the power stone, Sirius’ magic could only go so far, and he was vastly outnumbered.

He heard the others trying to break his barrier to help him, the metal creatures tearing at him, trying to all get at him at once.

“I invoke a trade!” He fought off more of the metal creatures. “All my memories of the life I had before if you protect these people, restore their buildings and give me any wounds they suffer!”

A woman appeared next to him, made out of light and the metal men passed through her easily, not even seeming to notice her. She tilted her head, eyes calculating. “ _ All  _ of your memories? Remus Lupin? Regulus? James and Lily Potter? Even...  _ Harry  _ Potter ?”

Sirius grit his teeth. “Yes. I would forget them all.”

“How about Azkaban? Would you live through another eleven years to save these people, Sirius Black? How far would you go?... Would you suffer a dementor’s kiss just to fix the problems of the humans only days ago you were ready to let die?”

He stumbled at the thought of a dementor sucking his soul out and a metal bot shoved it's hand into his gut like a knife. He gasped, but with a flick of his hand the metal bot was gone, his side bleeding out. His vision spotted slightly and he swayed. 

“Answer quickly, my rebellious son... What would you give to save these _meaningless_ humans?” The woman stood over him, eyes cold and yet curious.

“EVERYTHING!” Sirius tried to fight off the hoard of bots, but they ripped at him, metal hands gripping whatever part of him they could. “I would give  _ everything _ ...”

The woman smiled. “See? That wasn’t so hard. Now that you understand your place, we can work  _ together..."  _ Lady Magic seemed to think it over for a long moment, before nodding. " I think I'll settle for putting you back with your family for a year. Say hello to Walburga for me!”

A blinding light, and everything around him was gone.

 

Srirus was standing in Grimmauld place and when he looked down at himself, he looked like he did when he was a kid.

The house was less dusty than he remembered, but still as shadowed, the dim lights giving off a chilling atmosphere he used to hate as a kid. The wall paper wasn't peeling as it had been when he'd gotten back from Azkaban, but it was still ugly, no doubts about it.

In fact, he'd rather preferred it when the walls crumbling and the place emptily haunted, rather than this perfect rendition of his childhood. 

Sirius was sure his mother had only gotten the house so spotless because of they way she'd treated her house elves, killing and beating the ones who did 'bad work' to set an example.

And speaking of his mother- 

"Sit down you ungrateful boy! It's too early to have your head off in the clouds!" The screeching voice was just as he remembered and  he turned around, seeing the foul woman glaring at him from the table, Regulus sat down already like a 'good son'. 

The seat at the head of the table, meant for his father, was empty. Not that he expected the fact of an absent father to change, even if he _was_ only in a dream.

Though, his mother was prettier than he remembered, and a grin flashed over his face at the thought that the painter of her wizarding portrait had been able to see what a ugly beast she was. "You know mother... I liked you better dead." The words were out before he could stop them, hold them back.

The bottomless black eyes of his mother hardened into obsidian arrowheads as she stood, lips twisting into an ugly sneer.  “How _dare_ you disrespect me by talking back! I raised you better than that you brat!” 

Sirius snorted. His mother had raised him like one of her house elves.

"Fine then. The hard way." A malicious smile took to the woman's lips. "Regulus, darling, watch closely to what happens to _bad_ little boys... _CRUCIO_!"

 He was sent to his knees, pain lighting up every nerve in his body, and he was reminded exactly why no one ever talked back to Walburga Black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up Next: Forget Karma, Trauma Is the Real Bitch


	12. Forget Karma, Trauma Is the Real Bitch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How to make ultra-powerful characters human? MAKE THEM SUFFER  
> ...I feel so mean...  
> Lyrics are to 'Killing Me Softly With His Song' by Fugees

Sirius remembered coming back to Grimmauld place after Azkaban. How he’d rather have lived in that cave by Hogwarts instead of be in that house again. How much he hated the portrait of his mother, always yelling and screaming, and how those vicious word sometimes leaked into his dreams to be yelled at him.

He remembered sitting, slumped in the chair at the head of the table that his dad never used, talking to himself and the hallucinations his brain would shove on him. How he would spend his days going through the old rooms and destroying things so he could feel some sort of twisted closure for the deaths of his brother and father.

And with those memories came the time he actually got that old portrait of his mother to confess to killing his father in that same chair at the end of the table, poisoning him, and Sirius hadn’t been able to eat for days without getting sick at the thought.

The portrait of his mother had held that over his head for months, yelling at him, voice echoing through the empty house, that he’d killed his brother and father the second he’d run away. 

That he was as weak as they were and that he’d always be afraid of his mother that had tried so hard to ‘raise him right’.

 

Sirius watched the clock. 

His body wasn’t old enough to be at Hogwarts, but the year was almost up. 

Just one more hour. 

Regulus woke up from the bed next to him and together they went down to get breakfast, keeping quiet as they ate, so they didn’t get beaten by the woman behind the large wizarding newspaper. 

Sirius had missed his little brother and though he knew it wouldn’t change things, he tried to be as nice as he could to the boy, even if it was only in his mind. 

With one last smile at his sibling from across the table, he felt his mind slip away from the old house and the family that refused to love him.

 

With a groan, Sirius sat up, his body surprisingly sore as if the bruises he’d earned himself the night before had- He lifted up his shirt to see vivid purple splotches in the same places that his mother had kicked him after her usual round of crucio curses.

“They kept showing up, right after the times you would writhe and scream until you went hoarse.” The voice was smooth and his head shot up to see Loki sitting to the side, with bags under his eyes. “Twelve days you’ve been in a coma and those bruises multiplied as fast as they healed.”

_ Twelve days for twelve months of time in his own personalized hell.  _

At least he hadn't lost too much time… he tried to remember what had happened before he became Sirius, the disappointment of the Black family name, but it had felt like eternity ago. Like he was still a child, waiting for that woman with the high cheekbones and cold grey eyes to come after him, telling him how disappointed she was.

His voice was rough, cracking slightly. “Ultron? The others?”

Loki stood. “You’re a fool, always taking the punishment upon yourself. Ultron disappeared. No traces of the metal creatures anywhere. The team found their wounds were gone, as well as anyone that had gotten injured in the fight. And the city was brand new, including an impressive amount of plant growth. No one would have believed the fight even happened if you were not in a coma and there was video evidence.”

Sirius sat up carefully, sliding off the table and stumbling when he was taller than he had been for what felt like a year. “Good. That’s good...” 

He felt like he was walking in a dream, and tried to account for his surroundings, hoping this wasn’t some dream he’d wake up from in the morning and feel like shit when he saw his mother sitting at the dining table.

“Yes. Good. But I think the team is slightly both afraid and in awe of you and i’m pretty sure Banner is planning on doing anything to repay for what you did in Johannesburg.” Loki then smiled thinly. “Also I had to promise to alert them when you woke.”

The team ran in, Wanda running at him, arms outstretched. 

Sirius flinched back, cowering against the wall and sinking down into a ball as had become habit again, expecting something to be thrown at him whenever his mother made sudden movements. 

His voice was small, hands shaking at where they clutched his sides. “I didn’t do it. I swear I didn’t-”

“Sirius.” A phantom touch brushed over his cheek and he looked up to see Fleamont and Euphemia Potter, James’ parents. “You know better than to shy away. Oh darling, did Walburga get to you again?” Euphemia’s eyes sharpened, lips thinning. “I should find that woman and give her a piece of my mind-”

“Hey mum- mum it’s alright.” He felt his eyes sting as he tried to reason with the woman that practically raised him, that he knew was dead and had been for a while. Reaching out a hand he heard a slight sob come from his mouth as it passed though her. “She’s gone now. And I- I deserved it. Reg got into the fudge again and she was about to- You know that Reg wouldn’t have been able to take it. He’s just a  _ kid _ .”

The man that he considered more his father than anyone put a hand on his shoulder, the touch as light as a feather. “That doesn’t mean you deserved it Sirius. James would hex you if he heard you say that and you know it. Plus, Regulus is a little brat.”

Sirius would have laughed normally, but all that came out was a haunted sob. “But he’s going to die so  _ young… _ ” Sirius swallowed the lump in his throat, closing his eyes. “At nineteen- And I never got to say goodbye! It’s not fair!”

“Sirius, honey, that doesn’t mean you have to bear the punishment. You know it’ll be worse for you than Regulus. Walburga despises you and she uses your kindness against you.” Euphemia’s hand brushed his cheek again like she was trying to wipe away his tears but it didn’t work, like a feather brushing across his cheek instead of a warm hand. “Just… try to remember that not everyone’s like that.”

They faded away with similar smiles of pride and Sirius wiped at his checks quickly, shame consuming his body as he faced the team. “Sorry. Sorry I- They come and go as they please it seams, giving out too much information and-” He cleared his throat. “I know you all want to make me some savior but i’m not. I’m really not and I would appreciate it if-... I don’t need anything. No gifts, no nothing.”

The group watched him for a second, before Wanda stepped forward, albeit more slowly this time. “You saved my brother. I felt him die and- and then he was there, alive. Can I hug you?”

Smiling, he nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, you can.”

Wanda slowly gave him a hug, bursting into startled laughter as he picked her up, spinning her around like he used to do to Harry. 

Sirius grinned, something his chest loosening a bit. 

He set the girl down and in a blink his arms were full of a wiry teen, making him flinch back for a moment before he realized the arms were wrapped around him not trying to hurt him. “Thank you for saving me.”

After a second where they both politely ignored his flinch, Sirius wrapped his arms around Pietro for a brief hug. “Anytime kid.” When he let go, the boy was across the room again.

“I’m not a kid! I’m almost 19!” Pietro sounded offended.

“Well I’m-” Sirius paused. “How old am I... in this body?” Tilting his head, he listened to the voice in his head. “No, I get that i’m about forty mentally… but my body.” He rolled his eyes at the voice before they widened. “ _ Nineteen! _ ? You made me nineteen? Why do I have my tattoos then?”

“Who are you talking to?”

Sirius held up a finger to Tony, listening. Then he sighed, looking back to the group. “Great. Stupid  _ Magic  _ gave me my nineteen year old body with all the scars and markings of my forty year old one. That’s why my fucking-” He gestured to his chest. “-brands are here.”

“Brands?”

Sirius scowled down at his chest where it was marked up. “Magical prison. It brands you the longer you stay.” He shrugged, snapping, suddenly wearing a t-shirt and Gryffindor pajama pants. “I need some fucking food-  Damn _woman_ , starving her own f ucking _son_ .” He muttered to himself, stalking out of the room to the kitchen.

 

The time he had spent in the Burrow with Molly Weasley came into use and soon enough the whole kitchen was working with him to make fish and chips. Then with a wave of his hand, music drifted through the air.

_ ‘Strumming my pain with his fingers... Singing my life with his words... Killing me softly with his song, killing me softly, with his song. Telling my whole life with his words, killing me softly... with his song.’ _

Dancing around the kitchen he got out ingredients, letting his magic work to guide him around the objects in his way as he made carrot cake (because why not, he was craving it anyways).

“You like the 90’s?”

He jumped slightly at the voice, turning to see Tony standing a good distance away and Sirius nodded slightly, his magic picking up where he’d left off on the cake. “I’m most fond of them, yeah, but mostly because its all I know. My godson, Harry, got me into music after I got out of prison in ‘93.” He swayed to the music, humming along.

Eventually the song changed to  _ ‘U Can’t Touch This’  _ and then the whole team was laughing, trying to out-dance each other. 

Sirius smiled, watching from where he was sitting on the counter, as Clint, Tony and Pietro tried to outdance Natasha. 

It was a lost cause.

 

Eating like this, all spread out around the room was comfortable and almost reminded him of the Gryffindor common room.

Loki was lounging like a king in a large armchair, Sirius sitting at his feet, legs crossed as he picked at the small plate of food in front of him. Compared to what the others were eating, his plate was almost empty.

The topic was currently on something that he wasn’t paying attention to, when Tony turned on him with a grin, asking some question he didn’t hear.

He blinked. “Sorry I spaced out. Say that again?”

Tony raised an eyebrow, but repeated his question. “So… Your quip about relationships when you were taking down Ultron…?” Sirius felt his heartbeat rise uncomfortably, and the man must’ve seen some of the panic because he backtracked. “It’s nothing bad! I’ve had my fair share of flings- not that I don’t love the ladies…” The man even threw a wink to Natasha who ignored it with an eye roll.

“I-” Sirius paused, before relaxing a bit, trying on one of the roguish smirks that he’d worn most of his time at Hogwarts. “I don’t usually kiss and tell Stark… But I play for both teams. In fact I was considered to be quite the heartbreaker when I was young.”

Stark grinned. “You still are young.”

“Then I guess that i’m still a heartbreaker Stark. Why? Know anyone interested in some fun?” He leaned forward, leering.

Stark eyed him. “Maybe… I’ll have to check my schedule-” 

Steve seemed to choke on his sandwich and Clint cleared his throat, raising his voice. “You took Loki’s mind control right out of my head. Could you do that again?”

Blinking at the sudden change of topic, Sirius nodded slowly. “Sure...” He looked back at Loki. “You haven’t been doing anything like that, have you darling?”

Loki frowned down at him. “You know I haven’t.”

“No not him...” Clint glanced at Wanda, who was staring down at her plate looking lost. “Just wondering.”

There was a pause before Wanda looked up at him, regret coloring her face. “He wants to know if you can undo the effects of my magic. I put visions in their heads and I- I don’t think I can undo it.” Wanda’s voice was quiet.

“Oh.” Sirius glanced around. “Well, let me see what I can do.” 

Closing his eyes, he cast out a net, searching for the different types of energy in the room until he found the red-tinted magic. 

It pulsed with distrust and hurt, nipping at his hand when he got too close. 

With a grimace, he pulled on it, his hands stinging where he touched the painful emotions. Slowly, he watched at it started to pull back from the minds of the few people it touched, and he wound it into a tight ball as he drew it out.

Holding a pulsing ball of anger, hate, and pain, Sirius took a deep breath before pressing his hands together. The energy was slowly released through him into the tower like a conductor running into the earth, but some of the more negative energy sunk into his skin.

There were gasps and he opened his eyes to look down at where cuts had opened up on his hands, blood running like water. Shaking of his dizziness, he made sure the blood was only getting on the plate in front of him, not on the carpet.  Sirius hummed, finding his voice coming out slightly impressed when he looked up at Wanda. “Nasty magic, but it had really good defensive measures though. I've seen worse spells that’ll just fall apart when you start to pull on them but this was a challenge. Good job.”

Wanda seemed less impressed and more horrified. “What- What did I do to you?”

“No- no no no, I just didn’t account for your magic fighting me. You didn’t do anything.” Sirius smiled crookedly at the girl. “It’ll be alright... Once I stop  _ bleeding _ .” He glared at his hands like they were at fault.

“You’re an idiot.” Natasha knelt by his side, first-aid kit in hand. “You can’t just die every time you get a scratch. You don’t get to restart every time you get a little injured.”

Sirius rolled his eyes at the woman that reminded him so much of Lily and sometimes Marlene. “But  _ mom  _ it’s so  _ fun _ .”

Natasha huffed, wrapping his hands and handing the plate off to Clint before frowning at him again. “You barely ate. Not to mention that you  _ bled _ all over your food.”

“My stomach can’t handle the food right now.”

Natasha waited, but when he didn’t elaborate she sighed. “I’ll make a light smoothie.”

“FRIDAY? Can you make a playlist of all the  _ good  _ movies and songs that Sirius has missed since…” Tony looked at him

Sirius grinned. “1996. But I also didn’t have movies where I lived. Barely listened to music before that also.”

“God you’re a  _ mess _ .” Tony groaned. “FRIDAY? Put on Star Wars. We’re starting from the beginning.”

 

The team was careful with him, and they seemed to accept that he didn’t want to talk about the way he was always up before them with breakfast ready, how he would shrink back in on himself when people raised their voices or how he had a panic attack when Tony had called him ‘Sirius Orion Black’ from across the room. 

Yet he could tell there were times the team was worried about him.

Sirius had made a full breakfast, waiting at the table for the others to come down, lost in thought. Steve had made a quick joke about ‘wanting to go out for breakfast and see the city’ and that ‘the team can’t afford to pay for a private chef’, leading to the team trying to convince him he did nothing wrong when he started to panic.

So with the agreement that he didn’t need to cook food for the group unless he wanted, Sirius instead found himself wandering the city in the early hours of the morning, not able to sleep when all he’d dream about was being in that damn house again.

 

New York was beautifully new. 

Apart from anything that would leave him gasping for air in a mock of the cruciatus or anything that would make his heart ache for his friends.

Clean of all traces of magic, the air was cool and untainted on his skin.

He was in a small coffee shop, one of the quaint little places he’d found that was open this bloody early in the morning, when he saw her. Tall, with thick black hair that ended in subtle waves at her waist and ruby red lips that spoke softly to the guy at the register. 

His eyes had followed her from the second she entered, long black lace covering her arms and silky skirts that made her look like she was gliding. When she turned his breath caught in his throat. Grey eyes as cold as London skies flicked to him and thin aristocratic eyebrows raised slightly in amusement, before she was turning away from him.

Sirius was frozen to his seat. She was here. Walburga. In this universe. 

To what? 

To haunt him? 

Torture him? 

The woman collected her drink, long fingers wrapping around the cup and she turned towards him, black boots soft against the wood floors-

He found himself out of his seat and out the door to the coffee shop faster than he could have done if that woman was not right behind him, on his heels, about to draw her wand and cast him down.

When Sirius was in the elevator, rising steadily to the main floors, breath ragged and face wet with anger and shame, he slumped to the floor. “FRIDAY, please- please stop the elevator. I ne- I need a mo- moment.” His voice was wavering, cracking slightly.

The elevator stopped, lights dimming, and the AI’s voice was soft. “Do you need me to call someone Mr. Black?”

“No. No I-” He broke off, the shame of anyone of the team seeing him like this eating at his insides. “No…” 

There was no response, but soft classical music spilled from the speakers as he sobbed alone in the corner of the elevator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooof.   
> This was heartbreaking to write.  
> I'm probably not going to be posting for a while on this story as I have family coming into town and school looming over me like a friggin cloud of death.  
> <3


	13. Faded Scars Belie Forgotten Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting closer to a answer on what happened to Sirius in Askaban...

Sirius found himself cooking for the team, something that he found relaxing, and significantly not as stressful as potions had been. Between that, movie nights, and training, he found himself constantly surrounded by people.

It kind of blew his mind, just a little, having people that would stay by his side. 

But he wondered how long it would last. 

Even with the Order of the Phoenix he’d had moments where no one wanted him around, times where he was the only person. He’d gotten used to people being a fleeting concept in his life.

His room was thoroughly soundproofed (thanks to Tony basically giving each of them a floor in the tower catered to them), but Sirius cast the strongest silencing wards he could before he went to sleep. His nightmares were getting worse, most nights he woke screaming, and his scarred prison number had broken into fresh cuts more than a couple times.

Sirius wore long sleeves constantly, covering the bandages on his wrist.

But someone noticed. 

Well... more like  _ everyone  _ noticed.

 

Sirius woke up screaming though a nightmare of Azkaban, trying to fight off some invisible threat, and he cursed every single last Death Eater he knew the names of as he listened to the woman in the ceiling try to talk him through calming his erratic heartbeat. 

Prying himself from the sweat-soaked bed, he cast a cleaning charm, stumbling to the shower. 

Scalding hot water hit him relentlessly, but hot was better than cold. In fact anything was better than cold. He already felt that in his dreams, the life being sucked out of him from tube-like mouth, bony hands gripping his throat.

After he could feel his limbs again, he stopped the water. 

Sitting on the little bench on the side of the shower, he flicked his wrist, a wickedly sharp obsidian blade appearing in his hand. Gritting his teeth, he muttered a cleaning spell in Latin for the knife, before cutting a deep line through the pink scar. 

As soon as the scarred prison number was broken all the way through, he felt the cold sucking feeling evaporate from his chest. 

Slumping against the wall, Sirius watched the blood drip down the drain.

With a sigh, he carefully wrapped his wrist and got dressed, before starting for the kitchen. 

 

Heading straight for the fridge, Sirius sent a shaky smile to the small group sitting at the bar. “Everyone else out training?”

Only the twins, Bruce, Loki, and Barnes were left sitting around the large counter.

Wanda nodded, smiling. “Yeah, they’re all out trying out the new hologram thing Stark built for training sessions.” She paused, eyebrows furrowing a bit. “Are you okay Sirius? You look tired.”

He smiled wider. “I’m fine, thanks Wanda. Any requests for breakfast?”

“Blueberry muffins.” The request was out before Barnes seemed to realize, his eyes widening.

Sirius just grinned. “Four batches of blueberry muffins, coming right up.” He knew better than to question the man, as Barnes needed to know that his voice was just as valid as the rest of the group (even if Sirius himself wasn't a big fan of blueberry muffins himself).

After the second batch was finished, the others came in, all talking and laughing. 

Apparently Steve had accidentally tripped Pietro, who fell on Clint… it was a big thing to the group and Sirius smiled as he watched the playful argument that ended in Pietro and Clint calling each other petty names.

Natasha sidled up to him, easy smile on her face. “It looks good- But then again it always does.”

Sirius recognized that Natasha would be exactly his type of companion in another life, but after Azkaban and seeing her sitting in that white room looking so worn down… He more thought of her as a good friend, someone he wanted to protect. “Go sit down you flirt. You’ll have the muffins the same time as anyone else.” Sirius rolled his eyes.

She pouted. “But-”

“Fine.” He slipped her four muffins. “For Loki, Barnes, Clint, _and_ you.”

She grinned, slipping away.

Sirius shook his head, piling the remaining muffins on two trays and setting them out, watching as they was devoured by hungry mouths. He turned, continuing on where he was cutting up apples for a pie. 

He was just pouring a bit of lemon juice on the apples, when Thor clapped him on the shoulder. “You are an excellent baker, Son of Yggdrasill!”

Sirius jolted with the hit and he hissed as the lemon juice spilled onto his wrist, soaking into the bandage. “Fuck! Fuck fuck- bloody hell...” 

“You alright?” Loki stood up, looking over and the noise died.

He felt tears in his eyes as he smiled at the group with wobbling lips. “Fine. I’m fine.” 

A vase to his side shattered and he cursed, trying to rein in his wild magic.

“ _ Bloody fucking hell, that fucking hurts _ .” He spun around, pulling up his sleeve and ripping off the bandage, letting the water wash the lemon juice from his cut. It eased the sting and he sighed, slumping against the counter.

“You’re hurt.”

Sirius jumped, pulling his wrist away from the water and backing himself into the corner, arm behind him. “It’s nothing.” He smiled the widest smile he could, the exact smile he used to give McGonagall when she would ask about his home life. “I'm fine.”

Loki stepped forward, eyes narrowed. “Sirius Orion Black… show me your wrist.”

He held the man’s eyes definitely, smile faltering. “It’s nothing.”

“Then you would be fine with showing me.” Loki growled. When Sirius didn’t move, the man’s eyes narrowed. “I swear on my life, that-”

“Don’t!” Sirius stopped the man from doing something stupid, huffing as he held out his wrist. “ _ Insufferable _ .  _ Bloody git. _ ” He felt cold fingers grip his arm above the wound and looked off to the side, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes.

“This- this is self inflicted!” 

He winced as the atmosphere of the kitchen changed. 

“Sirius look at me.”

“It’s the scar- it's to break the scar.” He didn’t meet anyone’s eyes, tugging back his arm. “It’s fine, i’m wrapping it, making sure to go about it properly. Sterile blade, washing it out, changing bandages, I know what i’m doing.”

“That doesn’t mean you should do it! That doesn’t give you the option to go around hurting yourself!” Loki slammed his fist down on the counter.

Sirius flinched back into the corner more at the loud noise. “I have to.” His voice was soft, not trying to make them understand because he knew they wouldn't. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin your morning.” 

Before anyone could say anything, he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like it!


	14. Do You Smell Something Burning? Oh, Nevermind It's Just Sirius

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof.  
> That's all I have to say: Oof.

Sirius walked through Asgard, nodding to the people. 

Approaching the throne, he bowed lowly. “Odin. I have come to ask for a favor.”

“And what is your favor, son of Yggdrasill?”

“I would like to get rid of the tesseract for you.” Sirius smiled, knowing it wouldn't reach his eyes. “And ask for your healer’s help in removing a cursed mark.”

Odin leveled him with a wary look. “The tesseract is one of your infinity stones, as for the cursed mark… it will take some time to gather materials for such a ritual. I will allow you to have both for a price.”

Sirius shifted his weight, not liking the look in the man's eyes but knowing he had no choice but to try to reason with the king. “Fine. Your price?” 

“Loki. He belongs in Asgard, as a prisoner.” Odin’s face was cold. “He is my son and I will decide his fate. Return him and you may have both the tesseract and the ritual.”

He watched the man, face casually impassive. “What will you do to him?”

“He was wrongfully set free and has to serve out his time in the dungeons.”

With scoff, Sirius shook his head. “No wonder your kids are so messed up... No. Loki stays with me on Earth.”

Odin narrowed his eyes. “Then you will find no treatment here for your cursed mark, nor will you obtain the tesseract.”

“We shall see.” Sirius turned away, walking out.

 

He walked down to the bifrost, sinking down on the steps up to where Heimdall stood. 

“Brother. Your soul is weary.” The man’s gold eyes studied him. “You walk with shadows that feed off your energy and mother has been hard on you. Why do you fight her so?”

Sirius shrugged. “I followed orders from a person more powerful than me in my last life and it got by best friends killed.” Looking out at the expense of stars he sighed deeply. “Before I commit treason in front of you, any advice?”

Heimdall smiled thinly as his gold eyes fixed off into the expanse of space again. “Go see the wizards.”

He looked up at that, hope coloring his voice. “Wizards?”

“Not like you, unfortunately, brother.” Heimdall's smile was sad. “Take a break, go visit Nepal. I see it is quite lovely this time of the year.”

Sirius nodded. “I will, thank you.”  The man helped him up and he grinned.  “Now for the treason part.... I hereby name the first infinity stone, the Space Stone.” 

There was a vibration, the ground under his feet shifting, before a glowing blue stone appeared.

“I name you, asking that you chose to work with me and your brethren to protect this universe. Do you accept?” The stone pulsed and a soft blue light enveloped the room before his arm glowed blue. Pulling up his sleeve, Sirius smiled down at the shimmering blue ring around the tree.

Loud footsteps echoed down the bridge and Sirius smiled. “You ready brother?”

Heimdall let his face settle into a hard mask, pulling his sword out and swinging it.  Sirius let his body dodge and twist, avoiding the large sword by a hair’s breadth each time.  The troops of Asgard arrived to see the two in a complicated dance, Sirius’ eyes glowing gold as he avoided the swings before they came.

“SIRIUS ORION BLACK!” Odin’s voice boomed through the hall. “GIVE ME BACK THE TESSERACT!”

Sirius grinned at the man. “Um…  _ No _ .” Then with a snap, all the guards except Heimdall were standing in their underwear and he was gone.

 

Nepal was bloody hot.

Sirius waved his hand, allowing his sweater and jeans to shift into loose robes normally worn by eastern wizards, hair neatly tied back. Most of his chest was bare except for the two sets of prayer beads hanging around his neck, but he walked calmly through the streets of Nepal, ignoring the stares.

He knelt down next to a scruffy man with a basket begging for food and smiled as he put a 1,000 rupee in the man’s basket. The man’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. 

Sirius smiled, letting the reality stone alter his voice so it was in a language the man could understand. “I need to find my way to the temple. The one that no foreigners go to, the one the locals are afraid of.”

The man rattled out weak instructions and Sirius bowed his head, standing. 

He made his way through a plaza and upon seeing the prayer wheels, held out his hand, slowly turning them as he past. A low ringing sound echoed out, the wheels resonating as he moved them and people turned to watch.

Sirius made his way down the streets at a pace of leisure, watching the people hurry around. 

A man stepped out of the shadows to walk beside him, hood low on his face. “You look for Kamar-Taj, but you go the wrong way.”

“Do I?” Sirius tilted his head to look at the man. “Because I think i’m here.” He pointed at a set of simple doors, walking up and pushing them open. 

The man followed, eyes wary.

The temple was simple, yet elegant in its minimalism and Sirius could almost imagine Harry sitting off to the side playing Gobstones with Ron, Hermione’s bushy mop of hair in a book, Remus with a cup of tea curled up in the corner.

He bowed his head to the man studying, accepting the teacup that was given to him. “Thank you.”  A woman came forward to pour tea into the cup and once she was finished he sunk into a low bow. “Ancient One. I have come to ask aid.”

The woman smiled pleasantly. “Mr. Black. I admit I did not see you coming... but that might have to do with how your sight overpowers mine.” She then bowed lowly. “I believe I should be bowing to  _ you _ .”

“No no, no need to bow. Let’s sit… have some tea.” Sirius waved his hand and two pads appeared in the center of the floor, a chess set between them. They sat, both with tea in hand. “I offer a deal. You have the power to remove a cursed mark, and I… I can offer you a little bit of hope with your  _ time  _ problem.”

The woman took a drink of tea, moving a chess piece. “Cursed mark… explain.”

He didn’t look at the board, moving a piece before holding out his wrist and taking off the bandage. “A gift from my time in a magical prison not of this world. It drains me of life and happiness slowly. Normally it's easily resisted but recently it got… more  _ enthusiastic  _ with its efforts.”

“I see…” The Ancient One studied the board and moved a piece before smoothing a finger lightly over the almost healed cut. “Dying too many times seems to have given it strength.”

Sirius moved a piece.

She studied the chess board again, finally moving a piece before speaking again. “It will be excruciating. Like your soul being ripped out…”

Moving a piece quickly, he grimaced. “I am familiar with the feeling. I will survive.”

“And what do you offer as trade?”

Sirius smiled. “A traveler, like me, will come calling. A doctor, a surgeon in fact. He is the answer to the problems you will face in coming times… But you have to be patient. He’s not used to the unusual, even though he could be considered  _ Strange _ .”

The Ancient One nodded, flicked over her king and stood. “No need to waste time playing when fate is whispering in your ear. Shall we? I believe we have some dark magic to undo.”

Sirius stood, chessboard and tea forgotten. “Lead the way.”

 

Apparently the ritual composed of seven masters of the mystic arts, four binding him down with coils of pure energy, the other five casting spells his mind couldn’t focus on through the pain. 

He screamed. 

Unlike the cold chill that he’d grown accustomed to, this was a fire, a raging inferno that burned through his system and lit fires wherever it touched.

It ripped apart his body, lighting every cell on fire, burning every nerve.

After what seemed like forever, the inferno dampened and he was let go, but it still felt like he was burning from the inside out.

Laid to rest in an ice bath in a room with no light, the Ancient One smoothed a hand over his forehead, brushing back the wavy hair that had escaped the tie. “I will stall your friends for now, Galaxy-holder, but the mischief god grows worried in your absence.”

Then the doors were closed and he was left alone, fire raging within him.

Sirius barely registered the fire dying but the absence of pain, both burning and chilling, was blissful. 

He fell into the best sleep he’d had in years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone going to sign the petition for Mango to stop hurting Sirius?  
> Lmao, but honestly, I have less ideas on where to go with this than how to adult and that's saying something.


	15. The Marks of the Forgotten Son, the Branded Fall From Grace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You would think that someone with the Sight(TM) would be able to communicate.  
> Luckily, it's not Sirius causing the mess this time...  
> Though he still gets hurt (sorry)

Waking up was an experience. 

Prying his eyes open, Sirius' whole body felt like it had been run over with a cement flatterer.  However, that first breath of air was sweet and it felt good to not feel the chains of Azkaban wrapped around his chest. Easier to breathe, he found his brain took the rush of oxygen really well and he forgot all about the soreness in his body.

Groaning, he let his body relax,  _ fully  _ for the first time since he’d been a kid in the Gryffindor common room with the rest of the marauders sitting next to him.

“And that, folks, is Sirius Black’s O-face.” Tony Stark crowed.

“Shut up.” Sirius mumbled. “I can breathe and it’s amazing. Have you ever had chains wrapped so tight around you that you can barely breathe? No?  Then _ shuddup _ .” He sat up, grinning down at where the scar on his wrist had faded to just white lines. “Beautiful.”

“And why didn’t you do this earlier?”

Sirius looked up to where Remus Lupin was leaning against a wall. “I- I had stuff to do?”

“You're telling me you forgot about the dark curse that was literally squeezing the happiness out of you every moment of your life. You're an idiot.” Remus shook his head, walking over, hands in the pockets of his jeans. He had the distinct look of a tired professor, with the worn elbow patches and bags under his eyes, only missing the leather soft-shell briefcase he usually carried around.

“Have I ever told you you’re so sexy when you curse Moons?" Sirius hoped this worked like it used to, trying to distract the man from the questions. "Or are annoyed? God- Moony you’re just so-”

Remus rolled his eyes, frown deepening and Sirius knew it didn't work. “Sirius i’m not 16. Plus you know that if I was real I would have hexed you before I ever went to bed with you again.” 

Sirius looked away. “Yeah. I know. You did a few times Harry's fifth year for even suggesting...”

“Get over me Padfoot, It’s not school anymore.” Remus smiled sharply. “And for god’s sake, stop punishing yourself for Azkaban!” He faded away.

Sighing, Sirius got up. “‘ _ Get over Azkaban _ .’  _ You  _ try to be tormented by your worst memories, have everyone think you murdered your best friends, know a madman’s out to kill the godson you orphaned, and  _ still _ keep yourself sane.” Muttering to himself he marched to the kitchen. “Fuck off Remus Lupin. I’m  _ fine  _ you fucking  _ wolf _ .”

“If you were so fine, you wouldn’t be running away. Nor would you be talking to yourself.” Loki watched him with unreadable eyes. He slid a tablet across a table. “I think we need to have a talk.”

Sirius looked at the tablet and heaved a full-body sigh.

Apparently multiple news sources had finally gotten the runes on his chest translated by professors, and though they were arguing the finer details of the exact words, the general meaning was the same. 

_ ‘Demon’ _

_ ‘Murderer’ _

_ ‘Killer’. _

 

Sirius had been activly hiding himself away from both the public and the Avengers, knowing both would have questions about his markings. 

A woman named Pepper whose no bullshit attitude that reminded him of McGonagall, had been talking to him and he’d agreed to tell his story, but only with a reporter that they could trust. 

Against Miss. Potts' advice, he didn’t want anyone to know the full story until  _ everyone  _ knew, so the team kept their distance until the day came and he walked onstage, sitting down next to a pretty brunette whose eyes were kind but curious.

“And here we have Orion Black, the newest and most mysterious member of Tony Stark’s collection of superheroes… It's nice to finally meet you Mr. Black.” 

Taking a seat, he smiled at the woman. “First things first, Orion’s actually my middle name. Sirius, like the star, is my first name.”

"Sirius Orion Black?"

"Yeah." He gave her a slightly more tight smile. "My father's name is Orion. It's a old tradition, that and naming the kids of the Black line after stars. My-... my brother's name was Regulus."

The woman raised an eyebrow. “You sound English, and yet no one anywhere seems to have any records of you.”

Sirius grimaced. “Well, i’m not from here. Not from this universe, not this time. I was born in 1959, as a wizard.” He snapped and was holding a ball of fire, seeing the surrounding room freeze. “Yes.  _ Wow _ .  _ Magic _ ... To me this is normal, routine almost. I grew up with other kids like me, went to a boarding school for magical people.”

The woman’s eyes were fixed on the flame. 

He put it out, lips quirked up. “I guess the best way to start this story is with my four best friends.” As he spoke, they appeared. “Remus Lupin, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Lily Evans. Say hello everyone.”

Remus waved, James bowed dramatically before reaching over and spinning Lily around, Peter wringing his hands nervously as he glanced around. 

“Sirius!" The red-head hissed with narrowed eyes. "Get  _ him  _ out of my sight!” Lily sent James an irritated look before glowering at Peter.

“Right, yes, of course Lilyflower.” He waved his hand and Peter disappeared before he smiled back at the host. “Sorry about that, you'll understand in a second.... Lily and James got married, wonderful wedding and all that… and then something horrible happened.”

Remus snorted. “A madman, obsessed with some prophecy, set his sights on James and Lily’s kid.”

Sirius raised an eyebrow at the man. “Moony! It’s my story!”

“No. It’s mine. Both of you can eat it.” Lily whacked Remus on the back of his head, scowling at Sirius before turning to the brunette woman who just looked slightly lost. “My son was targeted, so we ran. We could tell only one person where we were hiding and since Remus was out of the state at the time, we chose someone inconspicuous. Peter. But the  _ rat  _ ran to that madman! He sold us out!” Her voice broke, fists clenching.

Sirius smiled softly up at the woman. “I got it from here Lilyflower. Go.” 

James and Lily faded, Remus nodding as he disappeared too. 

“Peter Pettigrew got Lily and James murdered, their son left an orphan. I arrived, hearing the screams… and I vowed to kill Peter.” Sirius kept calm, hands clenching. “I found him. But before I could kill him, he killed twelve non-magical humans, cut off his own finger and then ran. The magical police arriving on the scene saw me, holding a finger and surrounded by twelve dead.”

“And then?” The woman leaned forward, seeing to just go with the fact that the spirits had shown up.

“And then they threw me in Azkaban, a wizarding prison known for killing it’s prisoners, guarded by dementors.” He felt the room drop in chill, and turned around, finding one of the cloaked creatures behind him. 

The woman made a squeaking sound, falling off her chair. 

“God Damnit! I didn’t call you! Go away you bloody rag!” He waved his hand, making the dementor disappear.

The woman looked pale as she stood back up. “That- Those-”

“Yeah… those things. They like to suck all of the happiness out of you, make you relive your worst memories.” He helped the woman up, putting a chocolate bar in her hand. “Here. It should help.”

The woman ate the chocolate bar, slowly regaining her color.

“That- I saw-” She pursed her lips, face returning to a mask of professionalism after a few seconds. “And the- the tattoos?”

“The tattoos were branded into my skin by the very magic of the prison itself.” He slipped off his shirt, pointed to the one on the top center of his chest. “This is a demonic rune, symbolizing my fall from grace. The one under it is Amalgamation, or ‘Lone Wolf’. And under that is the rune for signal and the upside down rune for protection, reading ‘Bringer of Destruction’.” 

“The tilted cross on your chest has been translated to read ‘Want’ by a few leading professors… is that correct?”

Sirius nodded. “It’s better translated as ‘Need’, branded for my unrelenting need to escape. I tried sixteen times to get out, finally succeeding after twelve years… Mostly because I wanted to see my godson.”

The woman smiled faintly, seeming to relax a bit after all the craziness. “And the two on your right shoulder?”

“The squarish one says ‘The End’. It showed up after my younger brother died, a physical representation of how my family's bloodline would end with me. The other one is the chemical symbol for steel, a curse placed on me, binding steel chains around my chest so tight I couldn’t breathe. A dark curse.” 

The woman’s eyes widened. “A curse? How does that-...”

Sirius pursed his lips as he thought of the steel chains. “A binding curse, tied though the scarred prison number, invisible chains that tighten every time you think about Azkaban… They slowly suck the life and happiness out of you. It's effectively a way to kill the people in the prison faster, so they can make more room for the other criminals. ” At the horrified look in her eyes, he gave her a half smile. “I actually just recently broke it.” 

“And the other, smaller symbols in the lines scrawling across your skin?”

“Quotes. Things people had said, burned onto my skin that remind me how alone I was in prison... The time my father first beat me, the time my mother disowned me, the time my best friend stopped by my cell only to curse my name and tell me he wished he’d never met me… I used to work as an Auror, a version of magical police. Since they were the ones tasked with keeping the dementors in line and because of how they viewed my betrayal, they were the ones to give me most of the creative brands. They used to use my moments of pain to force themselves into my mind, find my worst memories and them brand them onto my skin.” His smile was thin. “I know just how worthless I am every single time I look in the mirror… and yet… I’m this world’s best defense, the one person standing in between you and Fate. And trust me, she’s not as lenient as Death.”

The brunette gave him a small sad smile, shuffling with her papers, before finally looking up. "I've heard rumors... Can you actually see the future?"

He shrugged. "If I concentrate, I can see the different strings of time and fate, but I usually have no idea what future is going to actually come. Although if there is one particularly good one, I try to steer towards that one. It's a very complicated guessing game." With a slight smile, he tapped his head. "But I have some help from a few ladies, so it's not _that_ bad." 

"Ladies?"

The question made him grin. "There're only two deities that I know of, but the two I met seem to control most everything. There's Death, who's beautiful in a silent dark way, and then there's Fate. We called her Lady Magic where I came from, but i've heard a few of the others compare her to 'god' here, so I guess it's pretty equal." Sirius scrunched up his nose a little. "Golden, everything about that chick. The glow she gives off, her hair... I swear she'd be really hot if she wasn't such a bossy know-it-all."

The woman hummed, sitting back in stunned silence and they watched each other for a long moment. 

“So… how small can your dragon get?”

Sirius laughed, winking at her. “Wanna see?” 

She nodded and the atmosphere relaxed into something more comfortable.

 

Sirius was running around as a cat-sized dragon.  Some guy in the crew had found a box and a laser pointer and the whole room was laughing as they watched him play, jumping after the red dot.

Someone cleared their throat and Sirius’ head shooting up as he forgot about the toy, running over to Loki and clawing his way up to the man’s shoulder. the god scowled. “You’re a menace. A tiny, tiny menice.”

He bumped the man’s chin with his head.

“Do you have time to sit down? Talk for a second?” The woman fidgeted, a bit nervous and Sirius bumped the man a bit harder.

Loki glared at him, before pursing his lips. “Fine. Fine i’m going. Stupid thing.” He tried to pry Sirius off of his shoulder, but his talons were caught onto the material of the man’s overcoat. The woman laughed, before covering her mouth, eyes darting to the god. Loki just smiled faintly, finally getting Sirius loose, and he gave the woman a tired look. “He’s quite the handful, _isn’t he_.”

Sirius huffed, smoke curling around his snout.

“No don’t do that!” Loki held him further away, frowning deeply. “You’ll set my eyebrows on fire you  _ moron _ !”

_ “That was the point, darling.” _

Loki scowled, setting him down on his lap, watching Sirius curl up before raising his eyes to the hostess. “You have questions I assume?”

“What’s your relationship with Mr. Black?” The woman blurted out, then started to backtrack. “I mean- you two are almost inseparable and you’re obviously close-”

“We aren’t  _ sleeping together _ if that’s what you mean.” Loki’s voice was cool. "Of course you humans would have that idiotic notion in your heads."

Sirius bit the man’s leg lightly in a warning to be nice.

L oki sent him a death glare. “You bite me again and I’ll kill you. You don’t count in the deal, as you’re not fully human and you would eventually pop back up, you bloody  _ weed _ .” 

Sirius narrowed his eyes, nudging the man’s hand. 

“Oh you want me to pet you? Too bad. You shouldn’t have bit me.” Loki sneered, crossing his arms and looking back to the woman. “I made a vow in return for my freedom. One to protect Earth and the humans on it. Don’t think that makes me happy, just that i’ll do what’s necessary. And for the matter, I  _ don’t _ like Sirius Black. He’s annoying and an attention seeking pest that I have no choice but to be around.”

Sirius growled, jumping down from the man’s lap and shifting so he stood over Loki’s chair. “Tell the world what you really think,  _ Laftyson _ .”

“That’s not my name,  _ son of Walburga _ .”

Sirius flinched back, before letting his face cool to mask the hurt he was feeling. He turned to the woman and bowed his head slightly. “I hope that you have a wonderful day, but I believe it’s time for me to retire for the night.” He looked at Loki, perfectly composed, with a cold indifference in his eyes that he knew made him look like his father. “Come or not, I could  _ care less _ .” 

He stalked out to where a car was waiting.

Loki slid in a second after him, scowl on his face. As soon as the door was shut he was turning on Sirius. “What’s your problem? You won’t talk to me for weeks and then you go out and talk to some human?!”

“Why would  _ you  _ care? I obviously just want the attention and you can’t be bothered to be decent to me in public!” Sirius watched the city fly by with a scowl.

Loki scoffed. “Don’t be daft! Do you want the whole world thinking i’m sleeping with some  _ mortal _ ?” 

Sirius watched the man for a long moment, not sure what to say through the raw ache in his chest that reminded him of Azkaban's chains. 

“Well  _ say something _ ! You're obviously thinking _something_!"

He turned back to the window. “I'm thinking that I don’t have anything to say to you.” 

The car descended into a stiff silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's been a decision that apparently Sirius is allergic to mangoes and that's why he's always getting hurt in this story.  
> Which is... accurate. :))


	16. Skin Hunger Sounds Like A Bad Horror Movie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be mentions of sex.... But no actual descriptions bc I'm pants at writing smut.  
> So... warning.  
> Oh, and flirting. Lots of flirting.

Sirius remembered when he’d first found out that his family wasn’t normal. 

That not all touches had to be punches, not all sharp movements a tell for when objects would be sent flying at his head.

Remus had pulled him in for a long hug one day after Quidditch practice, and after a minute of awkward stiffness, Sirius had been mush. 

He quickly found he’d do anything for people to touch him, for people to give him that affection he needed, craved somewhere deep in his chest. 

And so he became the heart breaker, the ‘slut’ as the students whispered, always attached to whoever would take him. 

Guys, girls, none of it mattered if they could show him affection. 

He knew he was getting used. 

He knew it and it didn’t matter.

Not as long as someone could make him feel alright.

It had been the same coming back from Azkaban, that hunger to feel warm skin against his, to have someone praise him for just _existing_. 

Except no one wanted to touch him, nor could he go places as easily. So he fed the troublesome hole in his chest with the second of warmth of bumping into random strangers, sometimes lucky enough to even get the occasional hug from Harry or Miss Weasley, to make Remus cave enough to hold his hand for a little bit.

He survived, persisted.

And then Sirius died.

Coming to this new world, even being overloaded with things to do, he still felt something catch in his lungs when his hand connected with Steve's to pull him up onto the hellicarrier again.

His skin was starved and Loki had been okay with how Sirius was constantly touching him, with hugs, connecting their arms when they walked together, even holding hands sometimes. And it kept Sirius happy, sane.

Now, with a sort of tenseness between them, Sirius found himself branching out. 

 

Tony was about as hungry for contact as him, so they made a deal. 

Neither of them had feelings for each other, but man, being able to touch another person was… magical. Not to mention it kept the nightmares at bay sharing a bed with another person.

Tony would wake up early, working on his tablet until Sirius woke, both stumbling into the kitchen and going straight for the coffee. 

Teasing was their language and the kitchen usually had to shame them from biting marks onto each other lightly or getting handsy in the main areas. Training usually ended up with Steve yelling at them to pay attention, both sweaty and laughing as they wrestled around, ignoring the others.

Loki was distanced, cool to everyone, and Sirius got the impression that Steve might hate his guts.

It continued for over three months. 

They became the ‘team dads’, got a reputation for being seen attached at the hip in public (to the pleasure of all the teenage girls in the world it seemed).

Until one night. 

Sirius was laying on his back with his heartbeat slowly returning to normal, just as exhausted as the man next to him, when he found the voice to say what he should have months ago. 

“I think Steve likes you…” His eyes were on the ceiling as he said this, words soft in the afterglow. Sirius scoffed, correcting himself. “Loves you maybe.”

Tony turned his head to glare at him, more upset than Sirius had seen him in a while. “Not funny.” His voice was flat, almost hurt, as if Sirius had said something insulting. “I don’t care how you found out I like him, you don't get to say those types of things.”

Sirius moved, propped himself up on his arm, looking over at the messy-haired billionaire laying next to him as naked as the day he was born, but his eyes didn’t wander, just fixed the man in a honest gaze. “He hates it when I mess with you around him.” Sirius moved so he was sitting against the headboard. “Not that I don’t really enjoy what we’ve got going… but there’s only so much void that we can fill with each other. He likes you and I think you should go for it.”

Tony studied him before sitting up as well, legs crossing, unashamedly nude. “Then you have to do something about Loki. He’s been threatening to gut me with his eyes ever since we first hooked up.”

“Loki? No...”

Tony looked at him like he had two heads. “He’s totally into you!”

Sirius scowled. “He said it himself, he doesn’t want to be seen with me.”

“Then Barnes.” Tony winked, smile curling into something suggestive. “He’s totally in your tall dark and handsome category and he’s been checking you out since day one.”

“No!” Sirius shook his head as he moved off the huge bed and paced the floor, momentarily forgetting he was naked too. “No way. I would feel like i’m taking advantage of… No i’m good. Really.” 

Sighing, Tony rolled his eyes and got off the bed. “Well, last night I guess…” He grinned. “Wanna join me in the shower?”

“ _ Hell _ _yes_.”

Never let it be said that Tony Stark's shower was anything less than a heavenly waterfall of awesomeness, mind-blowing sex aside.

 

Sirius woke to an empty bed, going downstairs at his own pace and grabbing a cup of coffee. He sat down next to Wanda instead of Tony (who was already there with a muffin and coffee typing at his tablet), smiling at the man as he passed.

Breakfast was silent until Clint broke, looking between both of them weirdly. “Did you two fight? Why isn’t Sirius sucking your face off Stark?”

Sirius grinned. “Got used to it Clint?”

Tony chuckled, taking a sip of his coffee, not raising his eyes from his tablet. “Decided that we weren’t working. Something about how neither of us really tops in the bedro-”

“Stark!” Wanda screeched as Pietro burst out laughing, the girl’s face having turned bright red. "There are rules! No sharing when not asked!"

Tony grinned across the table at Sirius. “Sorry.”  The man was 100% not sorry though, and he made no show of hiding it.

“You think I care?” Sirius grinned, thinking about that one time he’d stolen Steve’s old uniform for Tony. “It’s not  _ me  _ that has _that_ _ one thing  _ for-”

“Don’t you  _ dare _ !” Tony turned red, almost spitting out his coffee. “Or I spill all  _ your  _ secrets.”

Sirius narrowed his eyes, holding out his hand. “We both keep quiet.”

Tony hastily shook the hand. “Deal.” 

They both went back to eating, pretending not to see the eyes on them.

“So no more distracting the team during missions?” Sirius swore on Lady Magic herself Steve’s glare was directed at him.

He just smiled. “Nope. We’re both single. Or well, I am. He’s-”

“Single! I’m single.” Tony glared at him. “For now.”

Sirius snorted. “Fate knows not for long.” He got an idea, grinning. “Oh you know what? I’m gonna go smoke.”

 

Smoking, a habit that he’d had back before Azkaban, was a lot more fun when it wasn’t slowly killing you. Only, after Tony started kissing him, he’d agreed to quit smoking as the man didn’t like the taste. 

But now, out on the balcony, Sirius smoked his first cigarette in three months.

“Can I have a drag?” Sirius jumped slightly, pulling his mind out of playing with the strings of fate and looking over to see Barnes wearing a crooked smirk that dropped in surprise. “Oh I didn’t mean to startle you out of the future. Gold eyes and everything... Sorry.”

“No problem.” He passed over the cigarette. “It’s a bad habit you know, smoking. It’ll kill you.”

“Not fast enough.” The eyes were amused. “You’re what, twenty, and lecturing me on smoking? You should be the one not smoking kid.” But the metal hand passed it back easily.

Sirius smiled. “About forty actually. Time’s weird.”

“Same. I’m supposed to be about ninety.” Barnes tilted his head. “So the future... What did you see?”

“A lot of possibilities that you didn’t come out here just to smoke with me.” Sirius grinned at the man. “And a lot of futures that I might actually give in…”

The man stepped forward, eyes darkening. 

Before his metal hand caught Sirius’ hip, the cigarette was in his hand instead, Sirius smirking at him from across the balcony. “But… I think that you’ll have to play catch up first.” With a wink he walked back inside. “Who wants to spar! I’m feeling antsy!”

Tony didn’t look up from his tablet and jump at the chance like he usually did.

“Can we use weapons?” Loki’s voice was cool, flipping one of his knives from where he was lounging on an armchair.

“Sure thing, darling. Whatever you want.”

 

Loki brought out his knives, Sirius drawing out a wooden staff. 

“I’m not going to go easy on you.” Loki growled, swiping and slashing.

“I expect not.” Sirius blocked, but mostly used his sight™ to sidestep the attacks as they came. Loki stepped up his pace, making him move faster and faster until he saw too many outcomes and the knife slashed across his chest.

Loki’s eyes widened, knives disappearing in a second. “Idiot! You were supposed to dodge!”

Sirius shrugged, the staff disappearing a second later. “You needed to draw blood or it wouldn’t have been productive.” Tugging off his shirt, he walked back to the main area, Loki following closely. “I’ll be fine. It’s just a scratch.”

“You’re saying you had me hurt you on _purpose_?”

He frowned. “No... I would have died if I stayed exactly where I was. I stepped back just enough to satisfy both your anger and your need to patch me up.” He grinned. “So since you hurt me, you get to play nurse.”

Loki huffed, but went to go get the first aid kit. “Impossible.”

“How’d you get hurt sweetheart?”

Sirius grinned up at where Barnes was lurking like a shadow. “Loki’s knife- but i’m to blame.”

“He’s right about that.” Loki knelt down next to him, first aid kit in hand. “Lift your arms.”

Barnes eyed Sirius as Loki wrapped bandages around his torso. “And what future is this?”

“Hopefully the one where Loki forgives me and we can go back to our old ways of being inseparable.” Sirius tilted his head. “Or maybe even the way we talked about. Maybe both. Who knows? It’s up to you two.”

“ _Now_ what are you rambling about?” Loki narrowed his eyes.

“Nothing darling. It’s nothing.” Sirius smiled crookedly.

“Menace.”

Sirius let the comment roll off his skin. “You actually adore me Lokes, none of that name calling will work on me again.”

Loki rolled his eyes. “God I hope that's not true or you’ll be _impossible_ to get rid of.” Sirius and Barnes shared looks, earning themselves whacks to the back of the head. “Stop it. You’re both annoying me.”

Sirius chuckled, grin wide. “‘Course darling.”

“And stop calling me that.”

“Can’t do that. Sorry darling.” Sirius smirked when Loki huffed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So um... if I'm doin' this right, there's some time in here before the whole Lagos-Ross-Zemo affair, and i'm stock out of ideas to fill that time.  
> Any stupid/silly/fun/cliche things you wanna see the team do?  
> Any ideas help get more chapters written!


	17. Making Amends for Past Wrongs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long boi, full of character development and heart-felt ANGST  
> My hand slipped

Loki had a different type of magic than Sirius did. 

Older, more concentrated magic, that didn’t require spoken word or any type of ritual. The type of magic that was given to the some of the aesir by Lady Magic herself.

Sirius’ magic had evolved, grown. He had started with a lesser magic born of centuries of inbreeding and weakening the bloodline, only having evolved with The Lady’s help. Even then, he had gained the sight along with raw power that even Loki didn’t have.

They were different.

Sirius was stronger, more powerful.

And yet, as his magic was more concentrated, he could pull his whole self to this universe. Normally people had one or two or maybe even three universes that they lived in, each vastly different, but Loki? His magic controlled his form, centering it in this one universe.

So when he felt a strong magic (stronger than his at least) pull at his physical form, he traced the spell back to the rift between worlds.

Loki found Sirius while the man was meditating in the training room, the noise and commotion seeming to dim as he got closer to the man until it was completely silent except for the steady breathing. “There’s another, isn’t there?”

Sirius didn’t move or open his eyes. “There is.”

“They’re calling some part of my spirit to take physical form.” 

At this, Sirius opened his eyes, gold slowly fading under the fluorescent lights- back to their normal storm grey. “Natasha. The other one, she’s probably calling on your spirit. Maybe for advice or guidance…”

Loki looked up at where their version of the redheaded woman was fighting Clint playfully. “Does she know about the restriction between timelines?” 

They had talked over this many times before, as Loki understood Sirius’ predicament better than anyone else. The timelines could have things taken from them and replaced by Lady Magic, but only in times of great importance and only if that thing either stayed very shortly or for a long time. Sirius had taken only a short while to understand that he couldn’t go back, that he was stuck here, but Loki had a sinking feeling Natasha hadn’t figured that out.

Sirius paused, before shaking his head slightly. “No, I don’t think so… You should go see her. You’re maybe the only person that could cross the timelines like that and she _probably_ wouldn’t hate to see the face of someone from her old life.”

“You want me to find a way to convince her to focus on her mission, to get her to stop trying to get back, in fear The Lady will punish her.” Loki guessed the meaning behind the man’s worried eyes easily.

The black mop of hair nodded slightly, and there was a pause of silence before- 

“Be nice to her won’t you? I know that’s a courtesy that usually isn’t extended to anyone but me and maybe Barnes, but… She needs someone to sit with her, to be her friend.”

Loki looked at the man he’d come to care for more than he wanted, face carefully blank, and nodded. 

Turning to leave the man to his meditation, he walked out of the training room and got together a bag. 

Getting to the time rift would be a journey in itself.

 

The rift between worlds was hidden away in between planets, deep in space, and he’d only know of it’s existence because of the time he’d spent falling through space after letting go of the bifrost.

It was a beautiful thing, the rift, made of colors that seemed to be more living than not. Pulsing with sound and energy, yet completely still.

And at the base of the rippling rift, sat two women with a small fold-out table, playing cards. 

Loki kneeled. “My ladies, I wish to ask for a chance to travel through the rift, visit your other champion.”

“Stand Loki.” Lady Magic smiled at him briefly, playing a few cards that had the other darker-haired woman scowling. “We will grant you this trip, and two others, for a small price.”

He stood, shifting his weight as he considered his options. There was a chance he couldn’t afford to pay the price they set, but his curiosity was pulling him towards the rift between worlds. “Name the price.”

The Lady’s lips quirked at his demanding words, but she didn’t seem offended. “Tell her she died. That a bullet meant for Clint Barton hit her instead and there is no Natasha anymore in this universe.”

Loki though about it for less time than he should have, but the prospect of seeing the world Sirius had come from was too precious to give up, especially if only meant lying to a woman he’d never really met. “Deal.”

 

Loki appeared at the foot of a bed, throwing up a barrier and sitting down in a small chair, taking the time to examine his surroundings. It was old-fashioned brick and stone, the lights flame, nothing like the high-tech tower he’d gotten accustomed to.

The girl on the hospital bed in front of him was unexpected though.

The blood red hair was the only way he determined it was Natasha, because the curvaceous and manipulative woman he remembered was nothing like the child asleep in front of him. 

Not to mention the older version of Sirius gaping at him from the other side of the barrier. That was something he didn't want to even touch.

Pulling out a magazine he’d picked up from a coffee shop with Tony’s face on the cover, he started reading through the tabloids, looking for gossip he could tease the genius inventor about.

Feeling the magic of the girl stir, he waited until the emerald green eyes were looking at him in shock to look up and grin. “So… You’re magic now. Interesting…”

The girl startled, looking around to see that a group of people who looked vaguely worried were on the other side of his barrier. It seemed to him she’d collected quite the group of merry misfits. “Loki? What are you doing here?” 

The girl shifted her weight, looking uneasy in his presence, and his mind wandered. 

(Had- in her time without Sirius- had he been the ‘bad guy’ forever? Never knowing how nice it was to be needed, included?)

Clicking his tongue and dismissing the thoughts, he leaned forward in the chair. “I felt a disturbance the other day. Someone pulling part of my consciousness into form. And I knew that was strange because I only exist in one dimension.” He smiled in the way that Sirius hated, catching a strand of her long hair and twisting it around his finger. At the faint growl from behind the barrier, he made a mental note to talk to his Sirius. “The other Natasha’s hair is not as long. I like your long hair better.”

“And how are you here?” Her voice held a tone of warning, to which he smiled.

“ _ Darling _ Natasha…I know how to follow the casting of a simple spell.” He leaned in, eyes sparkling mischievous as he played the role of the bad guy he could see she needed to see from him. “And I asked nicely. Lovely woman, Death… She seems to be kind of sweet on me.”

The girl raised an eyebrow in a very  _ Natasha  _ way. “Don’t you have New York to try to destroy?”

Loki chuckled, ignoring the faint sinking of his gut. He’d definitely been the villain in her story. “Already tried. Boring. You however… are very interesting.”

Natasha closed her eyes for a second, looking to be trying to calm herself.. “So how long are you here,  _ gracing  _ me with your presence.”

He frowned at the sight of the bitterness in such a young girl’s eyes, making him feel worse than he’d expected. “This is weird. You’re murderous rage isn’t as sexy if you’re all… small.” Loki snapped and Natasha was suddenly in her uniform, a mirror of the woman he knew and had a moderate friendship with, if not for the longer hair. “There. Better.”

“As disturbing as this little reunion is, I know you better than you know yourself and you’re so gay that you slept with  _ Tony Stark _ . Now stop objectifying me and tell me how Clint is.”

He curled his lips slightly. He’d done  _ what  _ now? Even thinking of Stark and the man’s infuriatingly fast quips- oh. He’d probably done it out of amusement and bitterness… That sounded like him… “I didn’t-”

Natasha leveled him with a knowing look. “You did in my time. Clint?”

He found himself scowling anyways, that knowing look of the woman’s always getting on his nerves. “Your archer is fine. He seems to be using the ‘wonder twins’ as means to cope with your death.”

She blinked. “I-”

Loki waved his hand as if he didn’t care. “Midgard came under attack by a metal man. Ulto-something.”

“Ultron.” The correction came easily to the woman, even as she still looked shaken.

He rolled his eyes, even as a bitter taste rose to his mouth at dismissing the event that had put Sirius through so much pain. “Yes. Whatever. Well, your archer was going to get shot, and you happened to be nearby. You got shot... It was sad.”

The vibrant green eyes stared at him blankly. “Pietro's alive… but I died.”

“Quite annoying, that boy. He seems to be quite taken with your archer though.” She looked up and he smirked at the memory. “Found them making out in the jet the other day. The team was quite annoyed but altogether fine with it.”

Again the woman could do nothing but blink at him, stunned. “You’re…?”

“I’m an official Avenger." Loki's grin was wide and completely fake. "Under watch of course.”

Natasha nodded slowly. “So i’m just- I’m pulling the other spirits from my memories, not who… they became?”

He nodded. “Exactly.”

Oh and  _ that _ \- that right there hurt. 

The way her eyes slipped closed, trying to contain tears, even as one slipped out. The shaky inhale as the strongest woman he’d ever been bested by seemed to shatter into pieces. “So Clint never got married. Never had kids. I was never an aunt... Never got to punch that  _ fucking purple grape _ in the-” She cut herself of with a shuttering breath.

Loki tried not to reach out, having gotten used to the tactile nature of Sirius.

“You remember what you said to me? On the helicarrier, when you were locked away?...”

He grimaced. “I think I said a few… unsavory things.”

Her eyes were as cold as ice, as if the warmth had been sucked from them. “You know which words i’m talking about.”

Loki smiled bitterly, and when he spoke his voice was softer than he’d said those poisonous words to her before he’d met Sirius. She looked too much like the woman he’d come to practice knife fighting with on thursdays for him to imagine hurting her. “ _ I won’t touch Barton... Not until I make him kill you. Slowly… Intimately… In every way he knows you fear. And then he’ll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I’ll split his skull. _ ” Loki pressed his lips together, knowing his eyes begged for forgiveness. “Those ones?”

Natasha smiled, but it was shaky. “Yeah…” Her voice was soft, eyes somewhat distant like she was remembering something painful. “You know, I used to have nightmares, just as you said it. Textbook word for word. I used to pull myself into the shower and sit in freezing water until I stopped shaking, until I was so close to death I could feel it.”

His heart lurched in his chest, feeling his blood turn to ice. He’d never actually touched this woman and yet here she was sitting, so broken, in front of him. Telling him that he was what he’d once feared he’d become. A nightmare.

“I think you owe it to me to make sure Clint stays safe.” Her voice was determined, like she was expecting him to fight her on that.

Loki just dipped his head. He’d have done so even without her asking, but now- now it felt like he had to redeem himself. “I swear it.”

“Good.” Natasha reached out, grabbing the man’s hand and squeezing it. “Oh, and introduce Thor to Poptarts for me. He’ll love them.”

With a nod, he pressed a gentle kiss to the back of her hand, hoping it would help to mend some of the damage he’d done to her. “Call on my spirit whenever. It will help to know that the Black Widow still fights, even if it’s not for the Avengers... Goodbye Natasha Romanoff.”

Then, before she could break his heart any more than she had without even intending, Loki found himself at the rift between worlds. 

He didn’t look at the two woman, knowing they could see his inner turmoil just the same. “It’s done.”

Starting to walk away, Lady Magic’s voice caught up to him. “You have two more visits… use them wisely!”

As Loki made his was back to Earth, mind swimming around in the darker sides of his past, and he wondered how long it would be before he would get up the courage to go back to that accursed place, to see that fractured woman he only half knew.

 

Usually on bad days Loki found Sirius, dragging him to his rooms and curling like a cat around the man, but upon returning he instead found himself standing outside Natasha’s door. 

Not sure whether to knock or just walk away.

“Hey Loki. Need something?”

He would never admit to jumping slightly at the woman’s silent approach, but instead of adopting his usual defensive tone and posture, he just looked at the red-haired spy. She looked alright, but how would he know? She was admittedly the better use at masking her feelings and intentions.

He must have been lost in thought, because she put a soft hand on his arm with an easily concerned smile. “Hey, you in there?”

“Yes. I-” Loki paused, not sure how to ask if he was something that the woman dreamed of at night that haunted her. “I think I need your company.”

Natasha nodded easily, moving past him to open her door and wave him in, draping herself on a sofa. “Come on in then. So what brings you to my spider’s lair?” Her grin was playful, but faded a little when he took a seat stiffly.

Loki rolled around the phrasing in his head. “I- It’s-... I regret my actions. A lot of them. But the things i’ve said to you-” The woman’s face melted into a blank facade, and he swallowed back guilt brimming at his throat, voice just a whisper. “I never wanted to be the thing of nightmares...”

Piercing green eyes seemed to cut through him. 

They sat in silence, the weight of the room suffocating him slowly.

“It’s okay.” Her voice was hoarse, like she was speaking through the same suffocating feeling he felt. “I forgive you Loki.”

The silence lightened but neither of them spoke again, both trying to ease the knots in their chests. 

When Sirius found them, they were curled around each other like cats, the silence between them less oppressive and more of an air of mutual understanding. Loki cracked an eye open, seeing the man smile and gently lay a blanket over them, before closing his eyes once more.

So this was what it felt like to have a family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooof.


End file.
